


Long Live the King

by Jamaford



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: Dragon AU, Dragons, F/F, Fantasy AU, Gen, M/M, Mind Control, Multi, i'm not gonna say someone dies but someone might die, new summary same story, what have I gotten myself into jeSUS
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-07
Updated: 2016-04-08
Packaged: 2018-05-18 18:12:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 23,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5938156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jamaford/pseuds/Jamaford
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What is a king without a kingdom?</p><p>Geoff Ramsey knows better than anyone. However, a prophecy marking his return to the throne will change all of that for him. The last fire dragon in all thirteen kingdoms is prophesied to return him to his stolen throne.</p><p>And this dragon sure as hell isn't going to be doing it alone. Not if the Hunters, with Geoff at the helm, have anything to say about it.</p><p> </p><p>*New summary same story*</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Fire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WELP

Since he had been born, it was always something he’d felt, just under the surface of his skin.

The fire.

Before she had been killed like the rest of his people, taken away and drowned, his mother had told him never to show it. To cover the symbols that marked his skin, to avoid all forms of eye contact, to never make a lasting bond. She had told him he must always keep moving, and never let them catch him because if they did, he would be put out, like everyone else. 

His mother had told him to stay quiet and stay hidden, and then she had been gone. Dead, like everyone else he had ever known.

At eight years old, Ray Narvaez Jr. had been alone.

Years later he still followed the advice she had given him. Never staying in a town more than a week, he had no friends to speak of, nor did he want any. Being close to people had only ever brought him more pain than he knew how to deal with. Besides, it was hard enough to hide red eyes and the markings that covered his back and arms with no one to bother paying attention to him.

Humans only brought hatred in the end anyways.

Though he was no longer in the kingdom he had once called his home he knew that his people were not accepted in these lands. Or, at the very least, he’d never seen someone even remotely similar to him. He’d rather not go parading about, in case they were this was the kind of kingdom to just put him out. The village he resided in now was quiet, but Ray had almost enough coin from completing odd jobs for townspeople that he could move on. He was staying in an inn, a humble place, but a nice one nonetheless. Ray tended to stay inside during the day, and complete his required tasks at night.

Absentmindedly he fiddled with the purple cloth in his hands. It was the only thing he had left of his past, and it had been a present on his eighth birthday. Wrapped inside it was something his mother had told him to open only when he could hear the singing of the stones. What that meant Ray had never known, but he had stuck true to it, even if back then he had dismissed it as nothing more than a fantasy.

Stirred from his daydreaming, Ray heard a commotion from outside his window. Pushing the curtain just slightly to the side he winced at the sudden brightness and squinted out to peer at the scene below. In the square there stood a herald and two knights. The herald was reading something from a scroll, and Ray squeaked his window open to hear.  
“And the king has requested, that if anyone has seen such a creature, they must report it at once! It is of vital importance to the crown,” the herald finished. Instantly, the townspeople were clamouring and waving their arms.

“But sir,” one man yelled. “Dragons haven’t existed in Roosteria for years!”

Ray’s blood went cold. The crown was looking for _dragons_. Had they caught wind of him somehow? Did they have a mage with some kind of dragon detecting equipment? Taking a slow breath, Ray shook his head. It didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was getting the fuck outta dodge as quickly as he could. There was no more time to earn coin.

Distantly, Ray registered one of the knights talking. The man had taken his helmet off and was boasting proudly. 

“There’s no way the dragon will attack you, rest assured. And even if it did,” the knight smirked cockily. “Me and my friend here are going to be sticking around for a few days. There’s no way a dragon’s getting around the best knight in the whole goddamn kingdom,” he glanced up, and made direct contact with Ray through his tiny slit in the window. “No fucking way a dragon’s got shit on Michael fucking Jones.”

The crowd dispersed murmuring quietly among themselves, but Michael Jones stayed a few seconds longer, still staring at Ray’s window. Then, shooting Ray a wink he strode off after the other knight.

\---

Ray couldn’t leave the village until night fell. For one thing, the entire day the inn was full of people who would most definitely report a guy with a hood over his head trying to quietly sneak out of the bar. For another, Ray knew both knights would be covering the only entry and exit point.

“Way to go Ray,” he muttered to himself. “You just had to go pick the only fucking cliffside town in the goddamn kingdom. Good fucking job champ.” 

The words bounced off the walls.

\---

By the time night finally fell Ray couldn’t wait to get moving, and get as far away from goddamn Roosteria as he could. He slipped out the window, carrying only a small knapsack that contained just clothes, coins, and his purple cloth, and bolted, heading straight for the gate. Once he reached he cursed quietly. Of course the knights would take shifts. And of course, with his luck, it was Michael on the night shift.

Trying to think of a plan to get around the man, he almost screamed when Michael called out.

“Get over here dickhead, you’re thinking so loud you’re giving me a headache.”

Hesitantly, Ray approached, hoping Michael thought he was nothing more than a townsman out on a walk.

“I know you’re not a townsman, now get over here! We don’t have a lot of time to get away before that asshole takes over my shift.”

“How do you know what I’m thinking?” Ray asked. “I don’t understand.”

Turning around Michael shot him a toothy grin. “All of us can hear each other,” he said. “I’m wondering why you can’t hear _me_ actually.” Ray felt his breath catch in his throat. _Us_?

“I’m not the same as you,” Michael explained. “That’s why I was sent to get you actually, because the prophecy calls for fire, and well I’m pretty cold for a dragon, but I can explain it to you on the way if you want,” he grinned. “You can meet more like us too.”

This was the most conflicted Ray had felt in a long time. On one hand, if it was a trap then he’d be walking straight into it, and probably be put out by the time the sun was out. 

On the other hand, if there were actually more dragons in the world…….

“Can I trust you?” Ray asked. Michael nodded impatiently.

“Yes,” he groaned. “That’s what I’ve trying to convince you to do, for fucks sakes can we go now?”

“Fuck it,” Ray said and Michael grinned. At this point, Ray didn’t trust him but Michael had a horse he could steal and that was worth the potential of a trap. Plus, it would be nice to have the company of another dragon for a while.

\---

“Is anyone coming after us?” Ray asked Michael. The horse forced them to be practically touching which made Ray mildly uncomfortable as he’d had barely any physical contact in years but there was hardly anything he could do about that. His question had caused Michael to laugh raucously and Ray could feel him shudder with each intake of breath.

“Burns will probably send the entire Royal Guard after us once he realizes his actual guard is long dead, which will be as soon as that asshole Parkins gets back to the main castle with the herald, or they manage to find the body,” Michael replied. “That’s why I’m pushing Hidalgo a lot, but once we get to a cave or something we can camp out in we’ll rest.”

Ray raised his eyebrows. “You’re saying a cave is gonna hide us from the entire Royal Guard? Also who is Burns? And you still haven’t explained jack shit to me about where we’re going, or why, or anything!”

Michael leaned back into Ray this time when he laughed and Ray almost punched him in the back.

Almost.

Instead, he leaned away and surveyed the area around him. The horse, Hidalgo, was moving swiftly through the plains that bordered the mountainside. It was a sparsely populated area. The village Ray had been staying in was the only one around for a good many miles. Michael hadn’t revealed their destination, but having glanced at a map of Roosteria once before Ray was fairly certain they were heading further into the mountain ranges. The one they rode next to now, Mt. Azure, was the smallest in the kingdom if Ray remembered correctly, and looming on their horizon was Mt. Vermillion which was much larger. The two both belonged to the Olah range.

The horse was slowing down slightly, and Michael had changed his angle. “Are we stopping?” Ray asked. Michael nodded and gestured with his head towards a rocky outcropping that jutted out of Mt. Azure.

“There?” Ray asked in disgust. “We couldn’t hide from a blind old woman under that.”

“I’ve got a lot more up my sleeve than just reading your mind,” Michael replied. “We’ll be just fine.”

\---

Once they had set up camp, Michael turned, and stood facing directly outwards. Curious, Ray turned his head to watch Michael’s spectacle and was intrigued by the other mans level of focus. Michael raised his arms and started chanting in a language that made Ray remember old times when he had been but a child. The language of magic.

In one grand swoop Michael curled his fingers inwards and smashed his arms into the ground in front of him. The air rippled and a slim film settled over the outcropping, covering any link to the outside. In an instant Ray was on his feet.

“What the fuck did you do,” he demanded.

“Chill out man,” Michael replied. “All I did was set up an invisibility veil so if any humans come around they won’t see shit.” He plopped himself down next to the fire with a heavy sigh. “So what do you want answered?”

Ray hesitated before seating himself across from Michael. “If you’re,” he paused. “Like me..”

“You can say dragon,” Michael interrupted. “It’s not a dirty word.”

“Fine,” Ray replied. “If you’re a dragon, how come you talked about being the best knight in the kingdom? And what does the king want with a dragon anyways, if you were right there? Also, when you said reading thoughts was a thing for our kind, does that mean I can do it? Can I do the magic you were doing earlier as well?”

Chewing absentmindedly on a mint leaf Michael shook his head. “This is gonna be a long story. Are you ready for that?” 

Ray nodded. “I want to know where we’re going too,” he added.

“I’m not actually part of the Royal Guard,” Michael said. “The Hunters, a sorta vigilante group I work with, they got wind about the crown heading out on a dragon hunt. So, we took out the man who was meant to go on the mission to the village you were in-”

“How’d you know it was that village?” Ray asked.

“Our mage cast a spell, to give an area for where this mysterious dragon was going to be, and with a bit of glamour I looked like the guy, sounded like him, and even said his name instead of mine,” Michael puffed out his chest, obviously proud of his magical skill. “Glamour doesn’t work on dragons,” he added as an afterthought. “Now, as for why Burns wants you? It’s a lot of prophecy bullshit, and supposedly fire incarnate will help the one true king ascend to his throne. It spouts some other bullshit too, but that’s the important part. Now this is a problem for Burnie Burns, our current king, because he only has the throne because he forced the real heir, a one Geoff Ramsey who is the head of the Hunters, to give it up in exchange for the lives of everyone in the kingdom,” Michael looked at Ray. “You still following me there buddy?”

Breaking himself out of a daze, Ray nodded. “Y-yeah just……prophecy?”

Michael shrugged. “Apparently.” He noticed Ray’s look of confusion and reached around the fire to grab his shoulder. “Listen, I’m sorry man. Prophecies are fucking bullshit, and they’re everywhere.” His eyes grew distant and Ray felt the air around him getting colder. “But there’s fucking nothing you can do about them.”

Ray decided not to ask about that one.

“Anyway where was I? Right, prophecies. So that’s basically why the crown wants you like super dead. Burns is pretty convinced that if he just kills the last fire dragon in the world, he can reign until he dies, and with the mages he’s got on his side, I wouldn’t be surprised if he managed to avoid death entirely.”

“Do you know the mages?” Ray asked. “And are creatures allowed to be open in this land, if mages are?”

Michael visibly tensed up at the mage question. “The only _creature_ not killed on sight is a mage, and that’s because Burns can make them useful. To answer your other question, I know them, yes. Joel Heyman’s probably the most powerful mage in all the kingdoms. He’s the reason Burns likes collecting mages, because if one doesn’t want to cooperate Heyman can put all kinds of weird shit in their heads. Make them do whatever he, and therefore Burns want. Burns has a fuckton of mages, but the one he likes to flaunt is an ex-Hunter.”

“Did this Joel guy..” Ray trailed off.

“Something like that yeah. As for your telepathy question, all dragons can do it, and I’ll teach you how. Magic is trickier. Because I am technically an ice dragon or whatever my magic is predominantly based around that, but I’ll teach you some basic tricks. Our mage should be able to help you more with that. He helped me anyways. Fire and ice are total opposites, but I should be able to help you learn some fundamental aspects of magic.” Michael tilted his head to squint at Ray.

“No one ever teach you this stuff as a kid?” he asked.

“My village was destroyed and my whole family put out when I was eight,” Ray replied. He began fiddling with the purple cloth distractedly, having pulled it from his bag earlier. 

Silence fell between the two as Michael seemed desperate to try to find the right words to say.

“I never had a village,” he offered. “My mom dropped me off with a family of mages when I was a baby. Never knew her,” he smiled sadly. “They had a kid though. We grew up closer than brothers me and G-him.”

“Where is he now?” Ray asked. Michael’s expression hardened. 

“Gone.”

\---

“Not a lot of the Hunters are nonhuman, mostly because there’s hardly anything like that left,” Michael explained. According to him, they were about a day away from the resistance base which was located within Mt. Achieva, and Michael was taking the opportunity to explain the ins and outs of the Hunters to Ray. “I’ll take you straight to Geoff when we get there, and he’ll probably be with Jack.”

“Geoff Ramsey like the true king or whatever?” Ray asked.

Nodding, Michael spurred Hidalgo to go faster. “That’s the one, but I wouldn’t call him that. It’ll just give him another superiority complex if you do. Jack Pattillo, the guy I mentioned, is sort of like Geoff’s right hand man I guess? He used to be the castle blacksmith, and then when Burns pulled his takeover Jack left with Geoff. Anyway, they’re both human, but like I said before in terms of nonhumans we don’t have a lot. Burns ordered a mass execution a while back, probably figuring that if a dragon heard monsters were getting fucking murdered there’d be less of a chance you’d show up.”

Trying to ignore the discomfort that came across him when his supposed destiny came up, Ray instead let his thoughts wander to the lesson Michael had given him the previous night. He had taught Ray that the most important thing about telepathy was figuring out how he was going to block attacks from other creatures that had the power and how to close off his mind.

“That’s how Heyman will find you,” Michael had warned. “You think so goddamn loud; it’s a miracle he didn’t find you sooner.”

According to him, it was like building a thick layer of fog across your thoughts. You allowed certain people to see through (and apparently he and Michael would be able to converse with thought projection), but left the rest with nothing to look at. Ray had gotten the hang of it fairly quickly, and was dipping his toes into the realm of thought projection. Dragons had a knack for telepathy, more than any other creature.

Michael had sent several thoughts into Rays mind and he recognized the feeling of one tapping at his spotty fog layer.

_You’re getting better at this already._

_Was that all you needed to tell me?_

_Not entirely._

Images began to flash through Ray’s mind, of the mountain that approached them and the entrance to the Hunters base. Ray wasn’t sure how he knew what he was looking at; he could only decide that it was because Michael knew. Next, images flashed of a tired looking older man shouting frantically towards a group of men clad in shining silver armour. Magic clung all around the man, but it was nothing like Michael’s cold or his own fire, both alive, with what seemed like minds of their own. No, this mans magic was dark, dead looking, like it was only there through some terrible mistake. Ray couldn’t help but shudder.

_The knights are close, but we should make it there before them._

_Heyman’s magic, it seemed almost sick._

_Probably because it is. Magic is as living as either of us, you know that._

Troubled, Ray cut off the conversation. The images of the deadness that had surrounded the other man were disturbing to say the least, and he’d rather dwell on them in the privacy of his own mind.

\---

“Here,” Michael said, startling Ray out of his own mind. It was the first time either of them had spoken aloud in many hours and it was jarring. Ray was hardly used to even having conversations that lasted more than four sentences and were about something other than payment or lodging. Michael was nice to be around though, which was why he’d stuck around instead of running like his original plan. That and he was pretty sure Hidalgo wouldn’t have listened to a single command he could have given.

As he dismounted Ray winced at the discomfort between his legs. Usually he walked from village to village, and had only ridden horses a few times before.

“I’m surprised you lasted as long as you did to be honest,” Michael said. “And if you’re curious, Hidalgo doesn’t treat dragons the same way most horses do. He’s special that way.”

Ray squinted suspiciously at the other man. “Did you read my mind?”

“No,” Michael laughed. “You just dismount like an idiot that’s all.”

“Fuck off,” Ray muttered.  
Laughter echoed as Michael turned to the slab of rock Ray knew to be the entrance to the Hunter’s base. The man knocked in a peculiar patter and glyphs lit up all around the door. The slab of rock shimmered, and Michael stepped straight through, leading Hidalgo with him. Ray followed him in after a moment of shocked silence, and the rock reformed into a solid element once again. 

 

They were inside the Hunters base.

\---

Burnie Burns was less than pleased with his current situation. The dragon that was meant to bring his entire reign crashing down was in the custody of the Hunters, which meant that his guards clearly couldn’t do their goddamn job, Gus was out creating “alliances” with local nobles, Matt was god knows where, and Joel was-

Well Joel was in his throne room apparently.

“What happened?” 

Joel scowled. “The ice dragon, he took out McCormick. Glamoured himself so we wouldn’t realize until a guard found the body and by then they were too far gone. We couldn’t catch them.” He smirked. “There is some good news though.”

“What?” Burnie asked impatiently.

“Free no longer remembers Jones’ name when I take control off of him. All he can feel is emptiness where a brother should be.”

Burnie grinned. “Now that,” he said. “Is _excellent_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> leave a comment/kudos and come hang on my tumblr @daughterofthieves   
> also didja get my rvb reference?


	2. The Prophet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure about this chapter yet but it features my fav so here. Also if you want the full extensive lore on this come chat on my tumblr @daughterofthieves and I'll give you the comprehensive version.

Jeremy Dooley hated prophecies. And sure, maybe that was a terrible reason to hate the man Michael had been sent to get before he’d even met him, but prophecies had only ever brought pain and heartbreak and he was certain the newest one to come would be no different.

You see, the irony of the situation was that Jeremy was a Phoenix. His kind were the ones who had written all of the prophecies, thousands of years ago, and for some reason that made a one Geoff Ramsey think _he_ was the one suited to explain them. Like Jeremy knew what his first life meant when he talked about the Writer, or the Creator. Fuck, his ancestors probably didn’t know what the fuck that meant either.

“You must be able to think of _something_ ,” Geoff groaned. “We have to know what this shit means Lil’ J. It’s the whole clue to defeating Burns!”

“Sorry boss, just because I was regenerated through the ashes of this guy dozens of lives ago doesn’t mean I know what the fuck he’s talking about when he says,” Jeremy squinted at the scroll in front of him. “The permanent price?”

“Well that sounds pretty bad,” Kdin offered from his seat next to Jeremy. Their third in command was really only there because he was way, _way_ , smarter than Jeremy. If anyone could make sense of this it would be Kdin or Ryan.

Speaking of, Ryan strode into the great room with his normal serious expression, but Jeremy knew him well enough by now that he could tell the man was excited about something. He swept into a deep bow before Geoff, the only fucker in the Hunters who still liked to pull that formal crap, and announced his purpose.

“Sir, Michael has returned,” Ryan paused and let out the tiniest of grins. “And the fire dragon is with him.”

Geoff stood up immediately to go greet their new guest, and beckoned for Kdin and Jeremy to join him. Ryan followed in hot pursuit, promising that Jack was already welcoming the two at the entrance. Along the way, their gathering picked up many of the key members of the hunters, including Jeremy’s closest friend, Matt. Just before they reached their destination, Matt pulled Jeremy to one side of the hallway, letting other Hunters move past to greet their new “hero”.

“Listen, I know prophecies are rocky terrain for you,” he started. “But they’re tough shit for everyone else here, alright? I mean he and Michael were basically brothers for Christ’s sake.”

“Matt,” Jeremy interrupted. This was not a conversation he wanted to have.

“Just give the guy a chance alright? You may realize you like him more than you think you will.” And with that, Matt slid away.

Letting out a deep sigh, Jeremy held his head in his hands. Matt was probably right, but fuck it was hard to deal with any kind of prophecy related shit. But if Michael of all people could do it, then what right did Jeremy have to treat the dragon meant to give Geoff his true life back with such disdain? And Ryan, who had been running from his own prophecy all his life, if he could handle yet another one, what was Jeremy making such a fuss about? Maybe it was time to move on, accept that the outcome to his previous experience had happened, and he would never be able to say goodbye to the man.

“I’m sorry Gavin,” Jeremy whispered, and he strode out into the crowd to greet the dragon with a warm smile on his face, however forced it felt.

\---

Seeing how honestly lost and confused the dragon looked was enough to guilt Jeremy out of any negative feelings he had for the man. The guy was clearly out of place around so many people and stuck close to Michael. The procession that formed as he was led to the great hall was compromised of almost every Hunter in the base and everyone was clearly excited to have a possibility that their leader may reclaim his spot on the throne. 

Once they reached their destination however, Geoff forced everyone to leave but Jeremy, Michael, Jack, Kdin, Ryan, and Caleb, prompting much groaning from the twenty odd that had to work out what to do with themselves. The remaining few settled themselves around the centre table with Geoff at the head and Jack and Kdin on his right and left respectively. The dragon stayed standing, tensed up and looking ready to sprint in the opposite direction until Michael gestured impatiently to the chair next to him. Jeremy could sense the thought waves bouncing off of them both.

“So,” Geoff began when the dragon had finally settled in his seat. “What’s your name?”

The dragon blinked like he was surprised to be asked such a simple question.

“Ray,” he answered. His voice was surprisingly soft, but had a certain hardness that came with spending an entire life on the run.

“Well Ray,” Geoff continued. “What exactly has Michael told you about why the whole fucking kingdom wants you?”

“A prophecy,” Ray said. “I’m supposed to give you back your crown or something? Which like, I hate to break it to you, but that seems super unlikely. Even if I am the prophesied fire dragon, I learned telepathy like yesterday, so if you’re wanting that thing back anytime soon you’re gonna be seriously disappointed.”

To Jeremy’s surprise, Geoff simply threw his head back and laughed. It echoed off the high stone walls and brought a slight grin to the faces of all that were present. “I like you,” Geoff said. “And don’t worry; if you agree to join up with the Hunters we have several people experienced with magic, specifically of the fire kind, that will help you learn whatever you need.”

With a jolt Jeremy realized it was _him_ that Geoff was talking about. Well probably Ryan as well, but it was still an odd feeling to be discussed as though he was some kind of teacher; as someone with ability and confidence. Jeremy had been sure that Geoff had given up on him as anything other than prophecy interpreter after Gavin’s prophecy had been realized. Maybe he would be able to move on after all.

“Could you fetch the prophecy Kdin? I believe that Ray should hear it for himself, what he’s getting into,” Geoff said, and Jeremy realized he’d been tuning out a lot of the main discussion. Hastily he brought himself back into the present and paid full attention to Kdin as his friend pulled the scroll from some deep pocket in his bag.

Kdin raised an eyebrow at Geoff. “Would you like me to read it aloud?” he questioned. Geoff kicked his feet up on the main table and nodded. Kdin sighed and proceeded.

“The king shall fall, and the only thing to make him rise above will be fire incarnate; the last of it that shall ever exist. The Fire, it’s Opposite, the Writer, the Exile, the Creator, the Original, and the Prophet must meet in the Cave of Crystalis and the ancient will pave the way for the new. The king will reclaim his throne, but will pay the permanent price.”

Silence fell in the room after Kdin’s reading. Jeremy’s jaw clenched slightly. He had poured over the prophecy so many times searching for answers to who the people named could be, he could probably recite the whole thing from memory.

Geoff opened his mouth to speak again but Jeremy stood, startling everyone in the room including himself. It felt like he had no control over his body and as he opened his mouth to speak it was not the version of himself he was used to.

“The seven,” he said. “They are almost complete.”

Geoff sat straight up in his chair. “What? Lil’ J you’re not making any kind of sense.”

But Jeremy wasn’t listening. He looked around the room at the people who surrounded him. It was like they were in a whole new light to him, like something had been unlocked, some ancient part of him.

“Fire,” he pointed at Ray. “Opposite.” Michael. “Creator.” Jack. “Original.” Geoff. “Exile.” Ryan, who looked supremely uncomfortable. “Prophet.” Himself.

“What about the writer?” asked Michael, staring at Jeremy intensely. “Kdin?”

Jeremy shook his head. His skin felt like it was on fire and his vision was darkening. It felt like regenerating, only a thousand times more potent.

“He always used to write his own spells,” Jeremy mumbled, collapsing to the floor. It seemed that Ryan caught on first, looking at Jeremy with something akin to horror. 

“Not?” he said. The realization was dawning on everyone else, all in various states of shock.

“Guess we’re going after Gavin after all,” Jeremy said, and promptly passed out.

\---

When he came to he was in the infirmary. Blearily, he blinked away sleep and sat up in bed.

“You went full Phoenix on us there Lil’ J,” a voice sounded from behind the curtain that hung around his bed. Jeremy let out a shriek and Ryan stepped through, chuckling mildly.

“Were you literally just trying to make a dramatic entrance?” he asked, slightly annoyed. 

“A little,” Ryan confessed. “But I also only just got here. Geoff’s been making all sorts of plans.” He took a seat at Jeremy’s bedside, shooting him a look when the shorter man tried to get out of bed. “Don’t make me enchant you in there,” he said, obviously only half joking.

“Your magic doesn’t work on a Phoenix,” Jeremy grumbled, grudgingly climbing back into his bed. “Speaking of, what do you mean I went full Phoenix? I barely remember any of that.”

“Don't test me Dooley,” Ryan joked. “And you assigned us all roles to play in the prophecy,” he hesitated. “Your eyes sort of..glowed? If that makes sense? Like you weren’t looking at us, you were looking at the glow, and it was interpreting the prophecy in a way.”

Jeremy groaned and fell back. “I hate prophecies,” he mumbled.

“Tell me about it,” Ryan said, awkwardly shooting Jeremy a half smile.

“Oh fuck, Ryan I didn’t mean,” he trailed off and Ryan placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. 

“It’s okay,” the mage said. “We all have our bad experiences with this sort of stuff. You had it pretty bad when Gavin’s came true, and well I guess exile was a pretty good descriptor if you think about it. From more than one world even!” He managed a self deprecating kind of grin and Jeremy suddenly wanted nothing more than to sweep the man into his arms and hug him. Hell they could both do with a hug. Instead he settled for a solid squeeze of his hand.

“Gavin’s prophecy was terrible for all of us alright?” 

Ryan smiled sadly, and Jeremy could almost feel something else there, some unspoken energy hovering between them, but Ryan didn’t act on it so Jeremy let him be.

“Before I let you get some rest there’s something else you should probably know. You kind of..” 

“What Ryan?”

“You spoke a prophecy. About Michael.”

Jeremy was shocked still. “That’s impossible..” he whispered.

“I know you don’t like them-”

“No Ryan, that’s literally impossible.” Jeremy stared at Ryan. “Only the first incarnation of a Phoenix can speak a prophecy. The following lives can only try to decipher the prophecies created by their first life. I’m the twenty seventh form of this Phoenix. I couldn’t even understand the prophecies spoken this morning, let alone create my own!”

“Wait I don’t understand.”

“Phoenix’s don’t die.” Jeremy turned to Ryan to make sure he was following him, and at the man’s nod he continued. “The only thing that dies is the physical “person” I guess that contains all of the energy. Once that form dies, that “person” dies, but the Phoenix itself lives on. So by example, if I died that would be it, no more Jeremy, but the actual creature that I am, the Phoenix would be reborn from my ashes. It would be a totally separate personality, appearance, etc. but would technically still be the same Phoenix. One of the fail safes in place to keep that creature alive for ever is the fact that no Phoenix but the first, which is also the most powerful iteration of me, can issue a prophecy. That way Phoenix’s aren’t really hunted, because after our first life we become far less valuable.”

Ryan blinked slowly. “So your prophecy was very, very strange then.” He stood up. “I know I said you needed to stay in bed, but I think Geoff needs to hear this.”  
“Wait Ryan, tell me what I said about Michael,” Jeremy requested as he slipped out of the cot.

“I didn’t commit the whole thing to memory, I was more focused on making sure you were physically alright, but you basically said that the Opposite needed to walk his quest without the others. To quell the usurper he had to first find something else. Something only he could find, at a place you named Irideone.”

“Was that it?”

“Oh, you said he would find guidance in something to do with purple and red.”

\---

The sun was shining. The fish formed rainbows as they danced in the water. Her fellows all sung and laughed as they let the surf wash over them, making their scales shine in the morning light.

Meg Turney waited and watched, as she had for every day since Lindsay had disappeared. Waited for the kings’ symbol to shine over the hill again.

Waited for her chance to kill Joel Heyman and Gus Sorola. 

But first she would force them to tell her where Lindsay was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and comment! It fuels me. Also from now on expect weekly updates (I have two and a half more written after this one but I wanna space shit out ya feel?) This fic will probably end up being long and angsty once we get to Ryan and Gavin stuff and also when _things_ happen but you'll have to stay tuned. Also for the ship thing a wonderful anon suggested meg/ray/michael which I think I'm going with because I'm a sucker for OT3' s and I'm already writing Raychael in my GTA origins fic so.


	3. The Creator

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have some Jack

Jack didn’t really look like much.

He wasn’t saying it to put himself down. Jack was fully aware he was a capable advisor, renowned craftsman, and an expert blacksmith. Jack was-and not to sound cheesy-a Jack of all trades. But he was also aware that people tended to vastly underestimate him on first sight and he could tell that Ray was no different.

Jack had been asked to show Ray to his bunk, probably because he was the friendliest and Michael needed a little time to absorb the fact that a large portion of Geoff’s fate rested in his hands. It wasn’t something he minded; he was just growing tired of Ray’s constant glances in his direction.

“Is there something on my face?” he joked in an attempt to ease up the awkward silence that had fallen between them. Ray jumped.

“N-no I’m sorry I just,” he stuttered. Ray took a deep breath trying to ease some obvious discomfort which did not escape Jack.

“I didn’t mean to startle you I’m sorry. I’m just a little used to people assuming things and well-”

“No,” Ray rushed. “I was just wondering, um, how many exits does this base thing have?”

“Are you thinking of running?” Jack quirked an eyebrow. “Because you don’t have to sneak away, we can get you safe transportation out of the kingdom.” He went to pat Ray’s arm reassuringly but the dragon moved out of the way. Clearly touching was a no for the moment and Jack filed that piece of information away for later.

“I’m not,” Ray started and then stopped. He sat down on the floor suddenly, like any semblance of energy had evaporated out of him. “Well maybe I am thinking of running.” He turned and gave Jack a sad smile. “Do you think prophecies can be escaped?”

Jack laughed. “I know they can. But that’s not my story to tell I’m afraid.” He took a seat on the floor beside Ray. “The better question I think is should they be? I’m all for restoring Geoff to the throne, it’s been my mission for _years_ but a permanent price? All I want is for him to have everything he is owed, and I would die for him but never at the cost of someone else giving their life.”

Grinning wryly, Jack turned to look at Ray. “But I think that’s a decision you have to make for yourself. If you need some advice however, Ryan Haywood would be pretty well suited to answer your questions.”

“The Exile,” Ray murmured. “He was the one to escape the prophecy.” When he noticed Jack’s questioning look he blushed. “Sorry. You think kinda loud sometimes, and Michael hasn’t really told me how to turn off the whole mind reading thing yet.”

Jack stood up and brushed the dust from his pants. Offering Ray a hand, he smiled.

“It’s fine. The mages do it all the time, you sorta get used to it.”

Smiling, Ray let himself be pulled up.

“Now let’s go get you settled in a room, at least for a night or two before we depart on some crazy quest to save an entire kingdom.”

Ray chuckled at that one, and Jack felt a swell of pride.

\---

“Alright Jenzen, lay it on me. How low are we on supplies?” Jack pulled out a chair next to Kdin in the dining hall. The other man was pouring over dozens of maps and other assorted papers and a bowl of soup sat untouched in front of him.

Kdin blinked distractedly at him for a second and then seemed to pull himself together. Pushing his glasses up, he pushed the bowl of soup over to the side and slid a rations paper over the table to Jack.

“Not that bad actually. We’ll be good for about a month with no trips for food, which is good because it’s a little hard to leave this mountain when every village, town, and major city is crawling with Royal Guards just itching to get their hands on a Hunter,” he said. “The dragon get settled in alright?”

“Ray’s fine,” Jack replied, sliding the bowl of soup back over to Kdin. “Trevor’s his roommate so he’ll definitely get a warm welcome.”

Kdin laughed. “I should hope so. Guy looked ready to run away back when Jeremy had his whole Phoenix thing going on. Speaking of which,” he took a long slurp of soup. “He’s not actually supposed to be able to do that.”

“What deliver a prophecy? How do you know that? I thought Phoenix’s weren’t supposed to reveal their secrets?” Jack asked.

“They’re technically not,” Kdin replied. “But Jeremy doesn’t actually care as much of his past lives, which probably has a fair amount to do with him being number twenty something of that particular Phoenix but also he’s Jeremy and he trusts me not to go telling anything to strangers in bars.”

“So Jeremy shouldn’t have been able to make a prophecy why?” Jack prompted.

“Right!” Kdin got back on track. “Only the first form of a Phoenix can make a prophecy. Obviously that’s not Jeremy, so my mission number two has been finding out exactly what’s going on there.” He gestured to the papers that surrounded him. “And so far I have come up with absolutely nothing.”

Jack smiled and handed Kdin back the rations paper. “Don’t overwork yourself,” he said. “We need you to run this place while Geoff and I are on our own mission.”

“Don’t remind me,” Kdin groaned. “I do much better work as the research guy.”

“You’ll be fine,” Jack reassured. “Did you tell Geoff about the Phoenix business?”

“Course. He and Michael are the only ones that know.”

“Let’s try to keep it that way for Jeremy okay? Phoenix’s are pretty private creatures; it’s the only reason no one knows how to kill them,” Jack got up. “I’m gonna go check on Jeremy. Make sure you go to sleep soon, tomorrow will be busier than this place has seen in a while.”

Kdin saluted him with a mouthful of soup and Jack could only pray that he’d listen. Maybe he’d get Matt or Steffie to go down and check on him when they were switching guard positions.

But for now he had to go concern himself with Jeremy.

\---

As it turned out, tracking down an exhausted Phoenix was much more difficult than anticipated. Particularly when he refused to stay in his goddamn bed. All Caleb had been able to offer was that he and Ryan had gone to see Geoff, but Geoff had seen them an hour ago, when they’d come barging in to deliver news he was already aware of. He’d sent Jeremy straight back to the infirmary, and Ryan to bed but they were nowhere to be found.

Jack could feel his protective instincts kicking in when he literally stumbled into Michael.

“Owww,” Michael mumbled from his newfound position on the floor. “Fucking shit Jack, is that shirt made out of solid metal?”

“I mean it’s a breastplate so yes?” Jack replied. He sniffed the air. “Have you been drinking?”

Michael clambered to his feet. “In general or right now? Because the answer to both of those is yes and ohh god the room is spinning.”

Jack managed to catch him that time but the young dragon was out like a light. Sighing, he picked Michael up and started the long trek across the base to put Michael into his bed, stopping to request that Steffie send Kdin to bed if he wasn’t there already. Or at least get him a blanket.

When they finally reached Michael’s room Jack wrinkled his nose. Michael was one of the few in the base to not share with someone (or at least not anymore) but maybe they needed to change that. The place was a total mess. It had been even with Gavin, but now Michael didn’t seem to care about even a slight semblance of neatness. It was that room that brought Jack to the shocking realization of how not okay Michael was at the moment. The man liked to push everything away, under the guise of not caring, or feeling at all but it was clear he wasn’t coping with the loss of his pseudo-brother at all. Maybe a solo quest would be good for him in that case. Maybe his budding friendship with Ray would be too.

Sighing, Jack set to work making the room liveable. He didn’t solve every problem, but he cleared out the visible garbage at least, and provided some desk and bed space. He laid Michael in the bed, smoothing his curls out. The man curled in on himself immediately. Jack laid a blanket over his body and left the room, making sure to turn out the light.

He checked again with the infirmary and when Jeremy was still nowhere to be found Jack prepared himself for a long night. Jeremy had done this several times before, just disappearing for a while and though no one said it everyone knew he was trying to find somewhere he could remember Gavin in peace. The last three or four times it had been Ryan to find him, except this time Ryan was with him so that wouldn’t be much help. Jack groaned. It was all a mess, and the concept of bringing Gavin back should have excited everyone except according to his prophecy he _couldn’t_ come back. Which meant either Jeremy was wrong, or whoever created Gavin’s prophecy was wrong and either way that posed a whole new set of problems.

Jack heard voices coming from around the corner and straightened himself up. It would do no good to look so defeated in front of other Hunters.  
Except the owners of the voices never came around the corner. Now that Jack was properly paying attention it sounded like the voices were coming from above him, which didn’t make sense. Unless…

“The watch point,” Jack said and he could have smacked himself. He was pretty sure those voices were Ryan and Jeremy and of course Jeremy would be where he used to go with Gavin. Jack wasn’t sure why Ryan was there, but he hurried to the hallway that lead up to the watch point so he could find out.

“There’s no way that’s a real thing Ryan,” Jeremy’s voice sounded from just in front of him. “You couldn’t keep a whole book on a flat tablet thing like that.”

“I swear to god I’m not making this up! Who knows all the stuff that’s there now, what with me being gone for years,” Ryan chuckled in reply. Jack poked his head out just enough to see over the edge of the ladder he had climbed.

“Where did you say you were from again? Gorge?”

“Georgia,” Ryan corrected. “Or I was. I’m from here now.”

Silence fell between the two and Jack realized he should leave. Let them rest with each other. But Jeremy’s next question made him freeze in place.

“Do you ever worry that if you complete this prophecy yours might come true somehow? And then you’d have to go back?”

Ryan’s silence was deafening.

“Do you want to go back Ryan?” Jeremy’s voice was small and scared, like he’d asked a question that he didn’t know if he wanted the answer to.

“Never,” Ryan replied. “This place is more home to me than anything in my world. And I could never leave you behind.” Ryan coughed awkwardly. “Or you know anyone. I couldn’t leave any Hunter behind. You guys are like my family.”

“I’m glad,” Jeremy mumbled and Jack took that as his cue to go. They’d be fine. So long as they had each other.

\---

Something was wrong.

Something was very wrong.

He stood before the men that kept him prisoner but something was itching in his mind. He knew he should take the chance to run, while the Death Man had no control over him but he was paralyzed.

The king looked pleased. He hadn’t seen him look that happy before. Well not that he could remember. Nothing much seemed to stick around in his head nowadays, not the names of his brother, his spells so lovingly crafted, the man he loved, the man he wanted to love.

Not even his name anymore.

The Death Man had relinquished control, and though he was sure that had used to be a good thing the emptiness was crowding everything out. The lack of something in him, the missing piece, was gnawing at him and he longed to be pushed away, let the Death Man take over so he didn’t have to not remember anymore.

And as the Death Man granted his wish he felt a flicker of what felt like the man he called brother, screaming desperately for him.

_Gavin_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keep commenting it validates me


	4. The Opposite

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enter conflicted Michael stage left

Michael awoke in a clean bed for the first time in what felt like a century. It threw him off at first and he checked every corner of the room, every speck of dust in search of the trap he was sure had been set. At the lack of any evidence he paused in a feeble attempt to remember the events of the previous night. Something flickered at the back of his brain and he let out a smile. Jack. Of course. 

His smile disappeared however as he remembered the prophecy that Jeremy had told to make him become so drunk in the first place. Gavin. They were going to bring back Gavin even if his prophecy said he was lost to them forever and Michael was so tired of all the going back and forth over the matter. He just wanted his brother back, and he was trying so hard to hold in all of the rage at Geoff and Jack for only doing it because of his role in a prophecy.

With a start Michael realized half the room was iced over. Icicles had formed on Gavin’s bed and Michael let out a sharp sigh, flinging his bag over his shoulder and slamming the door shut behind him.

\---

The base was a mess of activity. Michael wove through the bustling clumps of Hunters, shooting a Matt and Trevor a strained smile, in search of Geoff. He was planning on leaving on his personal “quest” (and what bullshit that he was supposed to go through this alone) but he had to give the bossman a piece of his mind first.

Instead he bumped headfirst into Ray, knocking them both into the floor. Michael scowled, but softened when he recognized the other dragon. He offered him a hand up and barked out a laugh at the expression of mild terror on his face.

“I’ve never been around this many people in such a small space before,” Ray accepted his hand and let Michael pull him up. “I didn’t realize when Geoff Ramsey said we should go as soon as possible he meant the next day.”

“Geoff doesn’t like waiting,” Michael replied, grin slipping off his face a little. “Well most of the time. Speaking of, do you know where he is?”

Ray frowned as well. “No actually I don’t. Jack said to get a good night of sleep and that’s the last time I saw anyone in command.” Michael almost laughed at that again. Jack managed to take care of everyone, and Michael wasn’t sure how he did it.

“Well let’s go find us some people in charge,” said Michael, grabbing Ray’s hand and pulling through the crowd towards what looked like the heart of the action. Sure enough, right in the centre of the action stood their king with Jack and Kdin at his side.

“Kdin you shouldn’t have a problem. There’ll be plenty for the Hunters to do,” Geoff said. “Michael! Good to see you awake.”

“Geoff can we talk?” Michael said through gritted teeth, ignoring Ray’s concerned expression. 

“Save the spiel,” Geoff sighed. “I know that it’s fucked up that we’re only going after Gavin now, and Jeremy’s already been here twice to yell at me accompanied by Ryan of all people which somehow makes it that much worse.”

“Geoff he’s basically my brother,” Michael hissed and Geoff whirled around to face him, suddenly looking much angrier than before. He leaned towards Michael, keeping his voice at barely a whisper but every word punched Michael in the face.

“And I considered him a son. But it’s supposed to be impossible, and even if I wanted to do it anyways what did you expect Michael? For me to storm the most highly defended vault in the kingdom, to retrieve a boy meant to be impossible to save? To try and take out Joel Heyman, Burnie Burns, Gus Sorola, and Matt Hullum in one swoop? I would have killed every goddamn person in this hall and we still wouldn’t have gotten him back. And now we’re going to be fool enough to try it anyways, save the unsaveable. Do you know how shit that makes me feel? Like I’m using the man I think of as a son to just help me get back on top. I know this is awful Michael, but you need to realize that it’s not just awful for you. No one likes this, but I trust Jeremy, even if he’s sending you away from all of this and that’s the last thing we need right now.” Geoff sighed and ran his hand down his face and Michael could suddenly see the toll everything had taken on him. Their invincible leader was exhausted, but the moment was gone as suddenly as it appeared. “You don’t have to do your prophecy,” he added to Michael. “The choice is, and will always be, yours.”

Michael gave a crooked smile. “I don’t think prophecies like to give me much of a choice. I was a part of Gavin’s, and now mine has it's claws in me too.”

Geoff shook his head. “Gavin’s had nothing to do with you,” he insisted. “And you always have a choice.”

Saying nothing more, Michael nodded and turned to Ray. “I guess this is goodbye,” he joked. “Try not to think about me too much okay?”

Ray frowned and pulled him into a hug. “I copied down your prophecy,” he mumbled. “Try not to let the part about burning out happen okay? We still need you in that dumb cave or whatever.”

“The Cave of Crystalis,” Michael laughed. “Don’t worry. What’s the worst that could happen to an ice dragon at a beach?”

Ray looked serious. “I know you’re not quite as okay as you like to pretend to be,” he said. “And you’re sorta my first friend like ever, so I’d appreciate you not dying or anything dumb like that.”

Michael’s voice caught in his throat. “C-course,” he mumbled fighting back the blush that formed at Ray’s hug. Call him a sap, but it was nice to be appreciated. “Don’t do anything dumb alright?”

Grinning back at him, Ray let go and waved him away. Michael strode through the crowd and turned to wave back when he reached Hidalgo. Jeremy and Ryan had joined the main group and Michael gave a cheerful salute as he led his horse down the tunnels to the outside, trying to banish the feeling that something was going to go wrong in between now and the next time he saw them.

\---

Turns out, an ice dragon could get into a whole lotta trouble at a beach. Like not knowing where to go for example.

He’d figured the coastal cities were a safe bet as they held the libraries and schools that would be the best place to tell him exactly where he could find this Irideone. What he hadn’t accounted for was the sheer amount of streets he could get lost in.

Somehow he ended up on the beach. Not the worst place in the world for sure (although man was it _hot_ ), but not ideal for finding some mysterious place that held the key to everything.

A rainbow danced on the water and caught his attention. He dismounted Hidalgo and let the horse trot away to find a patch of grass. The flicker he’d seen had looked almost like a tail? Which was impossible unless..

“Fucking mermaids,” Michael growled. He strode towards the water angrily. Already he was frustrated and now some goddamn mermaid was trying to pull him towards the water to fucking _drown_ him. “Where the fuck are you running to?” Michael screamed at the water. Luckily no one was on his stretch of beach because the last thing he needed was unwanted attention. “Huh? What are you too fucking scared now?”

A head broke the waves, dark in the fading light. He could just make out the features of a woman, beautiful sure, but not in the state he was in. She opened her mouth to sing, presumably to try and lure him in but she had barely gotten a note out before Michael grabbed her by the throat and lifted her into the air.

“Yeah try to fucking trick me now you bitch,” he snarled. “Try putting a fucking dragon into a daze.” The sun had fallen totally below the horizon at that point and he scowled. “And now I don’t even have time to find fucking Irideone or whatever and I’m absolutely gonna blame you for that as well!” He stalked off but whirled around angrily when he heard the mermaid call faintly from behind him.

“Wait!” she cried.

“What?” Michael said. “Gonna try again? Because I wouldn’t fucking suggest it.”

“I can get you to Irideone,” she said. 

“Oh for fucks sake,” Michael groaned. “Where is it?”

She shook her head, clearly having finally caught her breath. “I’m going with you.”

“What the hell does a mermaid want with anything out of the ocean?” he asked.

“None of your business,” she bristled. “Dragons can do magic right?”

“Yeah.”

“Well magic me some legs so I can show you to Irideone,” she said. Michael’s eyes narrowed. “Hold the fuck up there. How do I know you’re telling me anything true?”

“Got any other leads?” she smirked at his groan. “That’s what I thought. Besides, I promise I won’t kill you. Now can we get me some legs? I’d like to get at least a plan started before daylight comes around again.”

“Jesus! Fucking fine, calm down already,” he paused. “ _Don’t_ fucking murder me.” She just rolled her eyes.

Michael mumbled a quick incantation, one that would (hopefully) give the mermaid human legs. She gasped loudly and before he could blink twice her tail shimmered and changed into a pair of what looked like totally normal legs.

“Oh fuck!” Michael yelled. “Why aren’t you wearing any clothes?”

The woman tried to stand up. “I wasn’t in the water either.” She promptly ate shit on the sand and Michael groaned. He picked her up, purposefully not looking anywhere but straight ahead and whistled twice for Hidalgo. “I’ll get you some pants and a shirt or something,” he mumbled awkwardly. What did you say your name was again?”

“Meg,” she replied grinning up at him and oh shit.

Purple fucking hair.

\---

“So a prophecy huh?” Meg asked as she came out of the bathroom. They had booked an inn for the night as it was too dark to ride at that point and Meg needed to learn how to walk more than two steps before they did any kind of adventuring. Cue the dramatic timing as she fell straight over again and Michael picked her up and deposited her on the bed. “How did you know about that?” he asked.

“It was in the bag you gave me. This little piece of paper,” she replied, holding up a folded note.

“Mermaids can read?” Michael squinted.

Meg rolled her eyes. “We lure people to their death but we’re not primitive,” she said. “Besides, the only reason I could do that was because you were out past curfew. That’s the agreement we have with the town’s mayor.” She slumped down on the bed. “Is it true the last fire dragon’s been taken with the Hunters? Because beach gossip isn’t usually the most reliable source.”

“Oh how kind of you,” Michael said. “And Ray is none of your business.”

Meg quirked an eyebrow, but left it. “So you think I’m the purple in this thing?”

Shrugging, Michael snatched back the paper. “Best guess I’ve come across so far, but prophecies like metaphors so who knows.”

“The Opposite shall walk alone, in search of Irideone. He will find purple and red but nothing else and once he finds the Key he will seal the fate of the kingdom. If he walks too weak however, the Key will burn him out, and the kingdom will be lost,” Meg recited. “Sounds kinda dramatic if you ask me, but then again I haven’t exactly heard many prophecies.”

“Yeah, well they tend to be similar to that. A quest, a vague omen of death, or more commonly the inevitable fate of death, and nothing useful,” Michael mumbled. “Any idea what red is though? I figure you seem to work in partnership with it.”

“A few ideas,” Meg said. “One pretty likely, the others less so.”

“What’s likely?” Michael asked.

Meg seemed to hesitate. “Someone very close to me, Lindsay, was taken away by the crown. I remember the names of Joel Heyman and Gus Sorola and I fully intend to kill them both, but first I need directions.”

“To where?” Michael asked, eyes narrowing. He had a horrible feeling he knew the answer. Meg sighed in response.

“Irideone,” she said. “But don’t take you goddamn magic off of me!” Meg yelled at Michael’s thunderous look. “I don’t know where it is, but I know how to get there.”  
“You lied to me,” Michael growled.

“I tried to kill you too and you got over that pretty quickly, I don’t think our friendship will be terribly hurt,” she replied. “Listen, remember how I said Gus Sorola helped take Lindsay away? He was the one to talk about Irideone, and I’m absolutely positive that we can get that information out of him,” she smiled pleadingly at him. “And he’s in town! To meet with the mayor! We can get all that fun stuff out of him and go to Irideone and we’ll both get what we want.”

Flopping into the chair Michael ran a hand over his face. “I should kill you,” he said. “You’re clearly not very trustworthy.”

Meg laughed and it sounded like tinkling bells. “But you won’t,” she said. “Because like it or not I’m sorta useful.”

Against his better judgement Michael laughed too. “Unfortunately,” he agreed. “I’m going to go to sleep. I swear if you try to slit my throat I’m gonna be very annoyed.”

“Noted,” Meg laughed again and somehow Michael slept better than he had since Gavin had fallen.

\---

The Hunter slipped away from his comrades. In the midst of the raucous party they had thrown to celebrate the beginning of their leader’s quest it was easy to make a silent exit.

He rounded a corner to his lodgings and drew out the necessary runes to make a communication circle. The incantation was quiet and short and within moments the face of Joel Heyman appeared on the floor.

“Sir, the leaders have left on the prophesied quest. They did not inform the lower ranks of who filled each role, nor did they announce a destination but I’m sure it is no challenge to deduce.”

“Good work,” Joel replied. “I knew there was a reason we kept uncontrolled mages around. You think so much better than the fog minded idiots who run around the king’s castle.”

“Thank you sir,” he said.

“I’ll have a force sent out as soon as it can be spared,” Joel said. “You should be able to take the remaining Hunters with no real problem; though I’m sure they’ll put up their best fight. Try and contain them as best you can so we can group them and check that they all get neutralized.”

“Yes sir,” he nodded. Footsteps sounded down a nearby hallway and he leaned down to whisper. “Someone is approaching sir, I have to go. Send the forces as soon as you can; there are no nonhumans left in the compound so they will be simple to eliminate.”

Joel nodded and he swiped a hand over the communication circle to wipe it clear. As it disappeared the door swung open and he jumped up. In stumbled his roommate, drunker than Ramsey on a bad day and his nose wrinkled at the foul smell.

“You’re not at the party?” Andy cried.

“No Andy, I had business to attend to.” He forced a smile.

“You’re so serious,” Andy hiccupped. “Don’t worry though Jon, _I_ still like you.” He stumbled forwards and Jon grimaced as he was forced to support his weight. Laying the other man on the bed he made a hasty exit.

“You’re the best Risemonger,” Andy hollered and Jon smirked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope y'all like this because I'm fairly happy with it. Tell me if you see any errors! Shit is starting to pick up and I'm hyped.


	5. Purple

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man I love Meg Turney. And if you haven't received the memo, for pairing I'm going with Meg/Ray/Michael which is an unorthodox but intriguing pairing that was suggested to me by a reader.

Meg had seriously considered making a run for it and finding Lindsay on her own. She didn’t trust strangers, especially not ones who had almost choked her to death. But she figured she’d have a better chance at capturing Sorola with someone who could actually walk, not to mention ride a horse.

Anyways, she was sure Michael had thought she was going to run away and she loved proving people wrong.

Speaking of, he had insisted on a room with two beds and had looked very flustered at the innkeeper’s assumption that they were a couple which had been oddly disappointing. Not that she _wanted_ them to be a couple, but she had been hoping for at least a little bit of playful flirting. Clearly Michael was not down to play around and she wondered briefly if it had anything to do with the fire dragon he hadn’t wanted to talk about.

“You need to stare into that mirror for another twelve fucking minutes or can I use the bathroom?” Michael snarked from the bedroom. “Because if you’re monologing I’d prefer if you could do it after I’m done my turn so we can catch Sorola that much quicker.” He swept into a mocking bow. “That is if you don’t mind of course your highness.” Pulling out a small gold crown he scowled at Meg. “I thought we were done with secrets. Also you can’t just shove random crap in my saddle bag when you take my clothes okay?”

“It’s not mine,” Meg said quietly. “It’s..it’s Lindsay’s.”

Michael fell into silence, obviously at a loss on how to respond to a much more serious Meg. But she shook herself out of it and gave him a weak attempt at a grin.

“Speaking of clothes I need some. This shirt does _not_ fit me, and these pants are a bright green tragedy,” she declared as she swept out of the bathroom. “And anyways, Sorola doesn’t get out of these meetings til the afternoon because that’s when his guards leave the beach. We have plenty of time to spare.”

“They’re the Hunter colours,” Michael grumbled, shutting the door behind her.

\---

Meg had almost completely gotten the hang of walking by this point. It was actually pretty simple, right foot left foot so on and so forth and-

She was so focused on her feet that she had failed to look around and had stumbled directly into a very very large man. He leered at her and Meg pushed herself up. Moving back, she turned and knocked straight into Michael who groaned in exasperation as he was knocked to the floor.

“Meg I am not going to buy you fucking clothes if you keep knocking me over.”

“Let’s just go get some pants or something in my size and get out of here,” Meg said. “I bumped into Creepy over there and he seems like he wants it to happen again and since you won’t give me a sword-”

“You will stab either yourself or me in the foot.”

“I have no way to defend myself,” Meg finished. “Also I’m pretty sure I saw a really cute dresses booth back there and they had nice practical pants and stuff too so let’s go that way.” She steered Michael in the direction of the booth she had taken note of several minutes back and despite Michael’s complaints he bought her two shirts, a pair of pants, a dress, and thanks to a lot of pestering a small dagger.

But shopping time was over and Meg was ready to go hunt down Sorola and get Lindsay back. Not to mention she would be able to enact some revenge on Joel Heyman for daring to take her in the first place. 

They were stationed on a small hill that overlooked the entrance to the town hall where a villager had sworn Sorola had entered several hours ago. Beside her Michael looked lost in thought but Meg wanted to break the silence that had fallen. There was something she was curious about.

“Where are your marks?”

Michael looked like he’d been hit across the face. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he grumbled. 

“You know; the marks dragons have? Like that fire dragon everyone’s chasing with his red eyes or whatever. You could pass for human,” she pressed.

“Some dragons aren’t born with them,” Michael said shortly. “It’s bad luck. They’re supposed to be cursed.”

“O-oh,” Meg responded awkwardly. She hadn’t expected such abruptness though his stiffness at the question made a little more sense. “What’s the curse?”

Ignoring her, Michael sat up slightly. “Sorola’s out,” he said. “C’mon, we’re going to tail him until he gives us a chance to take him out.”

Meg frowned, but she followed Michael to Hidalgo and swung on behind him. She wouldn’t press it, not this time, but sooner or later she planned on getting some answers.  
For being an evil king’s second in command, Sorola turned out to be much easier to catch than they had anticipated. He had only two guards and chose the emptiest road to travel by. All Meg and Michael had to do was wait until night fell and they could grab him totally unaware while he was asleep. In theory.

In reality, their stealth sneak up ended abruptly with a swordfight when Meg alerted the guards by tripping over a tent pole. To his credit, Michael had almost done the same thing in the darkness.

“There’s no way Sorola didn’t hear that,” Michael whispered to her. “So be ready for him to put up a fight but let me take the lead, I don’t want you stabbing him or anything.”

Disgruntled, Meg stepped over the prone body of the guard between them and gestured for Michael to get going. He rolled his eyes and stepped forwards, yanking open the flap to Sorola’s tent.

“That little fucking bitch,” he groaned.

“What?” Meg asked. Michael moved aside to show her the gaping hole in the back of the tent. “Fucker ran away!” he yelled. He whistled for Hidalgo and Meg groaned.

“What a bitch,” she agreed and swung up behind Michael as he clambered on to the waiting horse.

They hunted Sorola until sunrise and Meg was starting to get seriously worried. She and Michael had been sitting in tense silence the whole time and though she could _sense_ the irritation that oozed off of him she decided to breach the silence anyways.

“Why do you care? About returning Ramsey to the throne so much, I mean it sounds like this prophecy you got given could totally fuck you over,” she trailed off when Michael stiffened in front of her. For a moment she was concerned she had overstepped another boundary but Michael began to speak.

“There was a man I considered my brother once. We were, in all but blood anyways, but when his parents, our parents,” he corrected himself. “When they died in a battle with Joel Heyman he decided he wanted to avenge them and through a series of confusing events he fell in with the Hunters. At the time it was only a small group, people who had known Geoff when he’d been at the palace. There was Jack obviously, castle blacksmith and Geoff’s right hand man, and Jeremy, and Ryan and then somehow Gavin fit himself into all of that. At one point he dragged me along to meet them. It was..weird,” Michael seemed to be struggling with the right words. “Even though I loved them family that raised me I was never treated like a dragon, just a regular human or mage I guess. I never really accepted that part of myself and then the Hunters were so nonchalant about it. Geoff Ramsey now is like a father to me, to almost all of us, and I would give my life for him. Even if this prophecy means my death I would fulfill it gladly to return him to where he belongs.”

Though many of the names in the story made no sense to Meg it was still an odd moment to have such an intimate reveal from Michael. She felt like she owed him something in return, but really what was there to say? She had worked as a guard for Lindsay for years and when the other mermaid had been ripped away from her she had spent every day floating around in the surf, dreaming of a way to get her back. Judging by his silence Michael was done talking about himself. She opened her mouth to speak but a blur on the horizon caught her attention and she interrupted herself.

“Look on the horizon!” she yelled. “That’s got to be Sorola right?”

“At this point I just wanna beat the shit out of something,” Michael grumbled. “So we better fucking hope it’s him.”

Luckily for any bystanders in the area it was.

\---

“Listen, let me take point on this okay?” Michael murmured to her. They were about fifteen feet away from their new captive, who was tied up and shooting them angry glares. There was a small wooded area only a short distance away from where they’d spotted Sorola and it provided enough cover to interrogate the man-not to mention the fact that there was no one around for miles. “I know you think you’re hot shit, but I have some actual goddamn experience so just hang back.”

Meg rolled her eyes. Maybe it would put Michael in a better mood to act all macho, but frankly she wanted to get the information out of the man, kill him, and move on. She stepped smoothly past Michael and picked up her knife from the saddlebags that lay beside Hidalgo.

Crouching, she looked Sorola directly in the eyes. When he tried to turn away she grabbed his face to hold him there.

“Remember me?” she asked. Michael stood, flabbergasted. At a lack of response from Sorola she laughed. “Picture me with a tail. Ringing any bells now?”

“The guard,” he growled. Meg laughed again. “Now we’re getting somewhere. You took the princess I swore to protect, do you remember that?” Nothing. She gripped his face harder. “You took her to some place called Irideone.”

Sorola gave an involuntary twitch. “Your people made the agreement. A princess to be left alone.”

“Doesn’t make it fucking right,” she retorted. Michael stepped forwards. “Meg, maybe you should let me handle this,” he tried.

“He doesn’t think I can handle it,” she said to Sorola, like they were sharing some kind of private joke. “Mermaids are fucking brutal man. Training to be a guard is no joke. Where can I find Irideone?”

Turning away, Sorola clearly wanted to say nothing more to her and Meg sighed dramatically. “Well I guess we’re doing this the hard way.”

She stabbed him in the arm. To his credit, his face rapidly morphed back into a blank expression, until she started twisting the knife. Even Michael winced and the shriek Sorola let out was deafening. He was clearly not used to pain, maybe only working at convincing people with his words and his guards behind him. After a couple more attempts he broke, letting tears run down his face.

“Irideone is what we call the new lab,” he sobbed. 

“What?” Meg asked.

“Joel, he’s really fucked up. He likes to run experiments, on all sorts of magical creatures, I think he wants to give himself more abilities somehow. He’s never told anyone but Burnie why he does it.”

Michael frowned. “What the fuck does that mean? Experiments?”

“Trying to figure out how they work. What makes them what they are. He ran it in secret, way back when Ramsey was king but when Ramsey found out he made Joel destroy it all.” He glanced at Michael. “It’s how he even has magic in the first place. Joel’s incompatible.”

Sitting back stunned for a moment, Meg collected her thoughts. Of course she knew what magic incompatible was, mermaids as a whole were, but if the most powerful mage in Roosteria, maybe beyond that, had given himself magic…

She exchanged a look with Michael, who looked as surprised as she felt. In front of her Sorola was panting lightly, and it reminded her of their task in the first place.

“Where can we find it?” she asked. 

“In the southern range,” he answered. “The mountains that border Ospotthe.” He laughed bleakly. “Not that you’ll ever find it. Your mermaid friend is probably dead anyways, just like your people will be when the crown finds me dead. You _have_ to keep me alive.” His gaze flickered to Michael. “Besides, I could help you get Free back. You want that r-”  
His voice cut out abruptly and he slumped over. Meg whirled around to look at Michael, who had glimmers of magic that surrounded him still. “What’d you do that for?” she yelled.

“We have all we need,” Michael swallowed thickly. “Besides, I don’t think you really wanted to hear that asshole talk any longer either right?”

Meg sighed. “Too late now anyways,” she said. “How far are the southern mountains?”

Shrugging, Michael slung his saddlebags over his shoulder. “Two days? Three?”

Meg stood as well, and glanced at the body of Sorola, slumped over on the ground and bleeding. She wasn’t sure how to feel. Triumphant? Accomplished? She’d been dreaming of this for so long, since Lindsay had been taken by the crown, but now, standing in front of one of the people she’d hated for months all she felt was tired. Letting herself lean slightly into Michael she followed him to where Hidalgo was grazing.

“Well then I guess we should get going then,” she replied. “We’ve got a king who needs to be returned to his throne.”

Michael smiled.

\---

Where was she? Barbara was never late, and Arryn was getting worried that they’d been found out somehow. She scowled. Probably Aaron Marquis, or one of the other student mages. Technically a mage wasn’t supposed to carry out a relationship with anyone, but-

Her train of thought was interrupted with a pair of hands over her face, covering her eyes.

“Guess who?” a voice giggled.

“Barb we only have a little while,” Arryn laughed. “And I’ve got big news to tell you!”

“And I am _so_ excited to hear it,” Barbara reassured, coming around to face her. “But first just let me do this.” She gave Arryn a soft peck on the lips. 

Arryn pulled away after a second. “I was chosen by Joel to be apart of the group that goes to capture or kill the remaining Hunters! He only picks the best, and Jon’s been there for so long and now that the dragon or whatever is there and the prophecy is in motion we can go to take them down! Plus, this way I don’t get saddled with Irideone duty! And-”

“Babe you’re babbling,” Barbara interrupted. “But congrats! I am so proud of you, even if I hate Joel Heyman’s guts, and _maybe_ it’s just his stupid no dating rule but I find that a perfectly valid reason.”

Grinning, Arryn kissed Barbara again. “Now we both have special missions,” she teased. Barbara’s eyes flashed briefly.

She almost looked regretful.

“Yeah yeah it’s great,” she agreed. “Listen some weird things are about to happen okay? I’m sorta glad you’re leaving so you’ll be out of most of it but just don’t believe crazy rumours.”

“We should have a code,” Arryn said. “To say, if shit goes down, like so we can say I love you but not get in trouble for it if we both end up fine.”

“I like that,” Barbara replied. “A code that means trust me.”

“Bumblebee,” Arryn grinned. “Like our hair.”

Barbara laughed loudly. “I like it,” she leaned down to kiss Arryn on the forehead. “I gotta run, and we probably won’t be able to meet up properly until all this is over, but I love you.” She slipped out of the alcove they were in and Arryn went the opposite direction. Distantly, she heard Barbara yell something after her.

“And don’t believe everything you hear!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Barbarryn are cute but y'all better get ready because in the not to distant future shit gets real in this fic.


	6. The Exile

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Get hyped also someday i will crosspost this and five to tumblr but i'm tired

There was a warm weight on his shoulder. In the back of his mind Ryan could feel something niggling at him, like there was something he needed to do, but sleep was calling him and so he let it lull him away. Only a few seconds later however, he was rudely reawakened by his pillow disappearing beneath him.

“Ryan!” 

“Jeremy?” Ryan groaned. 

“Ryan, we gotta get up, I’m pretty sure we’re late!”

Rubbing his eyes, Ryan sat upright and glanced at the horizon in a vague attempt to cover his blush. So he and Jeremy had fallen asleep together. That was fine. Most friends probably did that. It’s not like Jeremy would figure anything out.

“Ryan!” Jeremy yelled again. Ryan shook the sleep from his brain. 

“It’s fine,” he said. “Look the sun is barely an inch above the mountain, not even Geoff will be awake yet."

Jeremy still looked frazzled. “I want to talk to Geoff. And we have to load up the horses and stuff, we’re leaving today.”

Of course. The prophecy mattered an awful lot to Jeremy and Ryan felt like shit all over again for wanting selfishly to spend so much time with the man. After all, Jeremy and Gavin had been..something. His crush was irrelevant.

“Right right,” Ryan said standing up. “Let’s get going then.”

As it turned out, what Jeremy had wanted to say to Geoff (twice) had been a long series of expletives, coupled with several long winded rants about Gavin. Ryan had a few thoughts on the matter as well, but he settled for a stony silence behind his younger companion until Jeremy had run out of steam.

Eventually however, Jeremy seemed too tired to continue on his track and they retreated to his room to pack. Ryan had few possessions, only a couple spell books he’d stolen from the library he’d lived in when he’d first fallen through a portal into Animatrian, a basilisk quill which had been a gift from Gavin and Michael, and the battered beanie he’d been wearing all those years ago. He kept everything in a small satchel at his side and any changes of clothes had already been taken care of by a couple younger Hunters.

Jeremy’s eyes were still rimmed red but Ryan gave him the courtesy of pretending not to notice. He sat on the opposite bed and watched him pack in silence. Glancing awkwardly around the room as he waited Ryan’s eyes fell on a drawing that sat amid Matt and Jeremy’s clutter on the table in the middle of the room. He took several small steps towards it, looking over at Jeremy for permission. At the other man’s nod, he picked it up, letting out a small breath of air at what was there.

It was a detailed portrait of the main cast of the Hunters. It looked like it had been drawn in the first few years of the group, when they had just established a base and were sitting down for dinner. Geoff sat in the center, clearly mid-laugh, and leaning heavily on Jack. For his part the bearded man wore a patient smile with several books scattered around him. Next to him Kdin was pouring over a scroll, a bread roll unattended next to him that Matt was eyeing intently. Jeremy had his arm thrown around Matt and a wide grin was on his face, and across from him sat Gavin, cackling at whatever Jeremy had just said. If Ryan squinted, he was pretty sure he could make out their fingertips touching ever so slightly. Michael was on Gavin’s left with a pint of beer in one hand spilling all over his pseudo-brother. He was gesturing wildly with the other, boasting, or telling some other dramatic story. Trevor, who if Ryan remembered correctly had only just joined up, was ducking slightly to avoid Michael’s hand but he was smiling over at Geoff. If Ryan was on the right train of thought Steffie had joined only a few short weeks later.

Lastly, Ryan’s gaze went to himself.

He was sitting on the very end of the table, next to Jeremy. Ryan in the picture had a gentle smile on his face, and it looked like he was listening intently to whatever Jeremy was saying. In the picture he looked so, so young and innocent. Even after everything he’d been through already, after what they’d all been through, they looked so happy. Ready to take on Burnie Burns, take on the whole goddamn kingdom if they had to.

“Caleb did a good job,” Jeremy said from beside him. The man had come up silently behind him while Ryan had been in his moment of reminiscence. 

Of course, that was who was missing. “I hadn’t realized he was this good,” Ryan replied, not taking his eyes off the paper. “We were so happy. Even though we’d all dealt with so much shit.”

“We’re still that. This prophecy is going to fucking do it Ryan. Get Gavin back, get Geoff up where he belongs, all that good stuff.” Even Jeremy didn’t sound convinced.

“I hope so Jeremy. I-” Ryan cut himself off. Now was no time for dramatic declarations. “We should go. Geoff will be ready to head out by now.”

“Right.” Ryan didn’t let himself think about the potential disappointment in Jeremy’s voice.

\---

During the first hour of the journey Ryan hadn’t much felt like talking so he’d stationed himself beside Ray, leaving Jeremy to ride alongside Jack in the front. He ignored the almost hurt look Jeremy sent him but had a much harder time ignoring Geoff’s disappointed one.

Ray was good company. He didn’t talk much, and Ryan was more than content to ride in silence for the three days it would take them to get to the king’s castle. When he did talk, it was mostly questions about their location, or Michael and his potential whereabouts (which Ryan decided not to comment on). They were riding through Playslet forest and would continue doing so until they had to take to the prairies that covered the middle section of the kingdom. Playslet provided ample cover and it was far easier for Ryan to camouflage them with magic given all the natural advantages he already had.

At about an hour and a half into the ride Ray spoke up again.

“Michael said you would be able to teach me magic. And earlier this morning, Geoff mentioned that the Phoenix, Jeremy I think, would be able to help with that too.” He looked up at Ryan. “That true?”

Ryan nodded. “I’m a pretty decent mage. Jeremy will have the necessary fire experience as well, though you should have a pretty natural inclination about it already.”  
Ray looked him up and down. “Why wouldn’t you?”

“I’m a more general mage,” Ryan explained. “I have experience with most elements but you really want Jeremy. He’s one of the best at using fire magic, which is doubly impressive considering all of his training comes from working with spellbooks and mages. He’s almost entirely self taught.”

It looked like Ray was considering Ryan’s statement. “You really love him huh?”

Ryan spluttered loudly, causing heads to turn in front of them. Thankfully the line was spaced out so no one had heard Ray speak. His secret was still safe. “That’s ridiculous!” he exclaimed.

“Not really,” Ray replied. “You look at the guy like he hung the sun in the sky, and yesterday you were the first to his side even though he wasn’t even done speaking prophecies. And the way you spoke about him just now confirmed it.” Ray said all of this matter of factly, like he was telling someone something he’d said a thousand times. In a rare moment of childishness Ryan rebuked.

“What like you with a crush on Michael?”

“Good comeback,” Ray snarked, though his ears went slightly pink. 

“And anyways,” Ryan continued. “Even if I hypothetically loved Jeremy so what? He and Gavin were a couple long before I realized anything.”

“The infamous Gavin Free,” mused Ray. “This is the guy everyone gets upset about.”

Growing quiet, Ryan sighed. “He had a prophecy,” he explained. “He was destined to fall to the throes of darkness and it would never let go. None of us believed it, but it turns out sometimes you don’t fall willingly.”

“Michael told me about a Joel Heyman,” Ray said. “A mage that can control people’s minds. How powerful do you have to be to do that?”

“Very,” Ryan responded. “And it’s incredibly dark magic too. One that will corrupt, eat away at your soul.”

“That’s why his magic is dead.”

“It’s odd though,” Ryan frowned. “I’ve always thought Heyman’s magic felt a little..off. Maybe it’s just because I didn’t grow up with the stuff all around me like all of you but I’ve generally always been able to get a feel for someone’s magic and his feels more than corrupted. Like,” he hesitated. “Like it doesn’t belong there in the first place.”

“I’ve been meaning to ask you about that,” Ray said. “You keep talking about other places, and Jack mentioned you escaped a prophecy somehow and-”

He stopped when a knife was suddenly held to his throat. Ryan stiffened and immediately readied himself for a fight but froze when something sharp was pressed against his back as well. Further up the line he could see his companions in similar positions.

“Careful what you do here,” a voice chirped in his ear. “Peake gets _real_ grumpy when he doesn’t have his morning cuppa before we head out.”

\---

The bandits (who had introduced themselves as Funhaus) had taken them to what Ryan’s captor had named the “Ultra Secret, No Girls Allowed, Spy Base”. Along with the five men who each guarded a member of their party there were two other men, a lanky fellow with curly black hair who introduced himself as Joel Rubin, and a man in a hat who went by Sean Poole, though the rest of Funhaus called him “Spoole”. Ryan’s captor had given himself various nicknames but his friend who held Geoff (Bruce according to Rubin) had called him James. The seven men escorted them and their horses through the woods, luckily heading towards the castle. They cracked jokes all the while but when they got to a cliffside where the wall receded a bit a sudden hush fell over the group.

Jeremy’s captor stepped forwards, dragging the shorter man with him and knocked in a peculiar pattern on the cliff. Similar to the Hunter’s own base, a door materialized and the man who had knocked wasted no time in pulling Jeremy through it. Everyone else followed suit until it was just James and Ryan outside, and with a cocky grin James dragged him along.

The inside space was surprisingly nice for a clearly temporary base. It looked like someone had tried to drape tapestries over certain spotty sections of the walls, and there was a fire in the center of the room.

“You can thank Joel for the décor,” Bruce called out, stepping around Geoff. “Now if you’d all sit tight for a few minutes, you can’t escape,” he glanced pointedly at Jeremy, who had been wriggling non stop since he’d been left alone. “And we will be right back.”

Funhaus filed out of the room and Ryan immediately walked awkwardly over to Geoff. They’d had their arms bound but not their legs so walking was difficult but not impossible.

“What’s our plan here?” The Hunters had congregated in the far corner of the room.

Geoff frowned. “I’m not sure,” he said. “I’d heard of Funhaus before but every report has always just listed them as a small scale bandit group. They clearly have a mage at work here.”

“I’m pretty sure it’s the man who had Jack,” Ryan said. 

“Lawrence Sonntag,” Jack supplied. Ryan twisted uncomfortably. James had tied his bonds extremely tight.

“I got a weird vibe from Peake as well,” Ray spoke up. “That felt more creature-y though.”

Nodding, Geoff glanced around the room. “Not much in terms of weapons,” he mused. “Maybe we could-”

“We’re ba-ack,” Rubin singsonged. “And we brought someone who happens to be very interested in meeting all of you.” He grinned at them huddled in the corner. 

“Don’t say anything,” Geoff said quickly as Funhaus filed back into the room. James was with someone new, a woman with blonde hair, and she was clearly the leader of the group. She took center seat in a makeshift table Bruce and the man Jack had named as Lawrence brought out and surveyed them all with interest.

“See here’s the thing,” she said. “My name is Elyse Willems. I lead this little merry group of rogues,” a couple of laughs, “and usually we’d just loot you and send you on your way. But, in this case you guys are sort of really wanted by the Crown and they give you like a bunch of money if we bring you in.” Elyse paused. “And we love that idea, but the problem is we kind of hate the Crown. They’re sorta assholes.”

“Couldn’t have put it better myself,” James muttered to Jeremy’s captor who laughed.

“Adam! James! You guys are totally ruining my bad guy vibe.”

“I’m pretty sure you do that by yourself,” Lawrence contributed from the other side of the table.

She shook her head laughing but got back on track, ignoring the perplexed expressions of the Hunters she had in front of her. “Plus if we brought you guys in they’d wanna mind control Lawr and kill Peake for the dragon thing and we’ve already made the deal that Spoole gets to kill Peake when we all inevitably murder each other so that doesn’t work. Besides,” and there was something odd in her smile now. “I need to have a conversation with your mage Ryan here.” From her back pocket she pulled out his old tattered beanie. “I think you and I need to have a talk. Bring the king,” she added to James. “Everyone else can wait here until we’re finished.”

Adam came down from the table and pulled Ryan along with him. Elyse met him at the doorway.

“I think we have an awful lot to talk about,” she said and as Ryan watched she reached into her other pocket and pulled out a small shattered MP3 player.

\---

Kdin was concerned for Jon.

Though the man was usually fairly neutral, lately he’d seemed off. It was like he was constantly thinking about something else, and Kdin was determined to get to the bottom of it. Now that it had been a few hours since Geoff’s departure the base had calmed down, and he’d called Jon down to the library.

“You wanted me?” 

Jon had arrived, right on schedule.

“Yeah Jon I just wanted to make sure you’re okay,” Kdin said. Jon blinked in surprise. “You’ve been a little off lately,” Kdin continued. “I know I don’t really know you very well, but I wanted to make sure it wasn’t anything crazy serious.”

“I’m good!” Jon responded. He seemed genuine, but Kdin felt a flare of suspicion still.

“In fact,” Jon said smiling and suddenly it looked almost too real. “I think the next few days are going to be some of the best ever.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sneaky Risemonger huh? Stuff is picking up also I love Elyse Willems and would die for her tbh.


	7. The Original

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to thank Elyse Willems for keeping my skin clear, my family fed and sheltered, and my heart full of joy.

From next to him, Ryan let out a small gasp but Geoff was just confused. Before he could ask questions however James pushed him through the door and shut it behind the trio.  
Immediately, Elyse grabbed his and Ryan’s arms and pulled them into a small side room. She shut the door and turned to them both with a grin. Looking over, Geoff could tell Ryan was still clearly in some kind of shock and though he was confused he took point on the conversation.

“What is that box?” he demanded. “I’ve never seen anything like it, so I assume it’s from the world Ryan came here from.” Ryan nodded dumbly and Elyse let out a shaky sigh.

“I’ve been here for years,” she said. “Since I was fourteen and _never_ have I met a single human being from my home.” Letting out a sigh, she leaned against the door. “And I would have never thought to find him as Geoff Ramsey’s most powerful mage.”

“Okay but what is it?” Geoff repeated. He took a step back. “Is it dangerous?”

Ryan laughed behind him. “It’s a sort of portable music device,” he explained, stepping around Geoff. He reached a hand out to Elyse with a questioning gaze. “May I?”

She shrugged. “Doesn’t work,” she said. “Stopped working the second I showed up here.” Her gaze lingered on it as she passed it over. “Still has value to me though,” she warned.

The explanation Ryan had given made absolutely no sense to Geoff but it was a question for another time. It was an odd experience for Geoff, seeing Ryan this exhilarated. He had not been this excited about something for many months.

Ryan passed back the small music box with a sad smile but it brightened when she returned his beanie to him.

“Did you,” he hesitated. “Was there ever a prophecy about you? Like when you first showed up?”

Elyse shook her head. “No,” she replied. “I was never supposed to land in these kingdoms. My, my friend, she was destined to be a hero. Saved the kingdom of Ruberia like she was supposed to. I just stepped into the portal too, and got taken along for the ride.”

“What happened to her?” Geoff asked.

“What happens to every interdimensional hero,” Elyse scowled. “They get sent home with a pat on the back and too many new scars. I wasn’t supposed to fall in the portal with her, so when her one-way ticket out of here showed up it only had room for one passenger.”

Ryan looked away. “She was brave,” he said. His voice sounded small, and ashamed and Geoff knew exactly why.

“Ryan buddy,” he started but Elyse cut him off with a scoff.

“She was stupid. All she wanted was to be a hero and look where it got her. If you ask me I got the better end of the deal. How’s a sixteen-year-old gonna explain to her family that she’s been in Lord of the Rings for two years?” Her expression was tinged with nostalgia. “I still miss her sometimes though. We got up to a lot of stupid shit me and Barb.”

“I ran from my prophecy,” Ryan confessed abruptly and Geoff’s head whipped around to stare at him. Ryan hated people knowing that. Hated that he’d done it, hated that he was still doing it. But Elyse didn’t seem terribly affected.

“I would’ve done the same thing,” she replied. “Lemme guess. A hero from another time brought by magic more powerful than anyone can dream? The only one who could save the kingdom from the great evil? The one who will return to his home a king?”

Ryan looked uncomfortable. “That was what the king of Animatrian told me,” he said. His face hardened. “He lied to me. I was supposed to save Animatrian, but by giving up twelve innocent souls. They had been collecting children for my great sacrifice. He had the whole thing planned out. I didn’t give him a chance to put that plan into action.”

“He lived in a desert tower for six years instead,” Geoff contributed.

“Shut up,” Ryan muttered. “I taught myself magic and everything. They sent a lot of heroes to kill me but I got pretty good at defending myself after number three.”

“That would explain why Animatrian has been doing so badly,” Elyse mused. “A shitty king _and_ a super villain.”

“He’s no Lex Luthor but Josephia is still a force to be reckoned with,” Ryan replied. Geoff squinted.

“I feel like that was supposed to be a joke,” he said. “But I honestly cannot tell.”

“Other dimension thing,” Elyse said and she and Ryan high fived. “But back to business now. I wanted to have this conversation, for a multitude of selfish reasons, but also because I think that Funhaus and the Hunters need to get on the same page.” She looked at Geoff. “Funhaus will stand with you. Burns is a dick, and his creepy mages are even worse. But I am not going to sacrifice my people for yours we got that clear?”

Geoff nodded distinctly. “We don’t need anything from you,” he replied. “Just let us be on our way.”

“About that,” she replied and Geoff groaned. “It’s nothing too bad!” she promised. “But we have a reputation to uphold and we’re just gonna rob you a little bit. You were a king I’m sure you’ll live.”

“Fucking come on!” Geoff sighed. “I mean we could probably take you-”

“Outnumbered,” Elyse interrupted.

“But in the name of peaceful relations or whatever I guess you can do it? I don’t know, Ryan make a decision here.”

“It appears the decision has already been made,” Ryan supplied unhelpfully.

“Yeah thanks buddy.”

\---

As Funhaus waved them waved from their base of operations (Lawrence had kindly conjured a “Sorry for kidnapping you also Jeremy has a nice ass” sign to send them off) Geoff pulled up alongside Ray in an effort to force two of his Hunters to interact with each other. Ryan had immediately retreated into his shell around Jeremy and volunteered to scout ahead, leaving the Phoenix looking confused and Geoff frustrated.

But at the moment there was nothing he could do, so he let Ryan go. At the very least Ray was still good company and Jack was bound to get an idea of what was going on between them by riding with Jeremy.

They rode the rest of the day, and when Ryan returned he conjured an orb that lit their path so they could ride at night as well. Before too long they had made up time lost with the Funhaus detour and Geoff called to make camp.

Immediately Geoff delegated tasks. Ray to unpack the blankets. Jack was to tie up the horses and perform a perimeter check. Geoff himself would be sorting through their supplies to try and figure out if they would need to make a stop in any towns to restock anything. It was not accidental that he had tasked Jeremy and Ryan to work the fire and cast spells respectively, forcing them to work in somewhat close proximity. To his continued disappointment however, Ryan chose the furthest spot from the fire to work, and Jeremy had apparently given up on reconciliation attempts, instead shooting Ryan furtive looks when he thought no one was looking.

“They’re kind of a mess huh?” Geoff nearly shrieked and he jumped around to glare at Ray, who had come up behind him while he was watching Jeremy watch Ryan.

“Jesus Ray,” Geoff sighed. “You almost gave me a goddamn heart attack.”

“Maybe be less of a wimp?” Ray offered before blushing red and backtracking. “Unless that was way out of line I know you’re like a king and stuff-”

Geoff laughed as the kid stammered out apologies. “It’s fine. I’m not even technically really a king, so it doesn’t matter. And even if it did, I don’t really mind too much.”

“Uh yeah,” Ray replied awkwardly. He glanced back at Ryan and Jeremy, seemingly desperate for an out. “Ryan’s doing that thing where he’s not looking to try and pretend like he doesn’t care, but instead looks like he cares a lot.”

Geoff rolled his eyes in agreement.

“It’s like watching an animal run into it’s own reflection. The idiot has no idea what to do.”

“I could try to talk to him?” Ray offered. “I mean you know him better and all, but if you take Jeremy and I take Ryan one of them is bound to see sense and they’ll start banging and stuff.”

“Not that simple I’m afraid.” Geoff said, staring up into the dark sky. “Jeremy’s too heartbroken to acknowledge real feelings for Ryan, and Ryan is a guilt ridden dork.”

“Jeremy and this Gavin guy were a thing right?” Ray asked and Geoff snorted.

“In every sense of the word. It was fucking disgusting,” he smiled fondly in remembrance.

“Look, let me get them fixed. I have an idea,” Ray said. Geoff shot him a sideways look. “I thought Michael said you didn’t like getting attached?”

Ray shrugged. “He told you that?”

“He tells me everything.”

Another shrug. “I don’t know; I’ve never had this many people that I know since I was eight. I don’t know if I trust you, but it’s kind of…nice? Like something to rely on. Plus, if I’m gonna return you to your throne I should maybe help your loyal subjects get their shit together too right?”

“Maybe,” Geoff chuckled. “I mean, I’m not gonna stop you, just don’t push them too hard. They still need a lot of time.”

“I’ve been getting the vibe that this Gavin guy was pretty important.”

Saying nothing more, Geoff simply nodded and gazed at the constellations above them. He didn’t hear Ray’s footsteps fade away, but when he looked forwards again the dragon was talking with both Ryan and Jeremy, and though Ryan looked uncomfortable he wasn’t running. The trio moved under a tree and Geoff felt the vibrations in the air that signified magic. 

Groaning, he stood up, wincing at the cracking of his bones. Slowly, he trudged forwards, intent on a warm blanket and counting on Ryan’s defensive wards warning of any attacks. Before he could collapse into bed however, he heard Jack call and suppressed another groan.

“Jaaack,” Geoff moaned. “My ass hurts from riding a horse all day. I’m old. My back hurts. I’m the fucking king, can I get a little bit of sleep.”

“We need to talk,” Jack said, face serious and Geoff sat next to him on the log by the fire.

“I’m all ears,” he yawned.

“The permanent price,” Jack started and Geoff instantly sat up straighter. “In your prophecy, Geoff, I’m worried it’s going to be about Ray somehow.”

“Well what do you the price actually is?” Geoff questioned. Jack bit his lower lip.

“Well what’s the most permanent thing there is?” he said slowly. “I don’t want to think about it either, but Geoff, can we really do this? Go ahead with a prophecy that tells us someone is probably going to die? I want you to have your birthright Geoff, god it’s what I’ve devoted my life to but,” he hesitated. “I don’t want to sacrifice anyone. We’ve already lost Gavin-”

“Not according to Lil’ J we haven’t,” Geoff interrupted.

“And don’t even get me started on how many problems that poses!” Jack said. “Prophecies are never wrong. Never, in the history of Roosteria, even the world, has it ever happened. And now we have two prophecies that contradict each other and,” he trailed off. “I just don’t want anyone to get hurt. We have already been through too much.”

Geoff rested his head in his hands and let out a deep sigh. “I know Jack. I’m trying not to think about it, but the fact of the matter is that for me to reclaim the throne someone will probably die and I am not ready for that to happen. You’re right, you’re always right but what do you want me to do? Let Burnie just take over my life? Live as a fucking vigilante? You know that without the mystical powers of this prophecy I have no chance of taking on Burnie, and especially not Joel.”

“I know,” Jack said quietly. “But it doesn’t mean I have to like it.” He stood slowly, and dusted his hands. “I’m going to sleep on it. Try not to drink the only bottle of booze we brought.”

“Too late,” Geoff replied dryly. He took Jack’s outstretched hand, pulling himself up. “Maybe when we wake up Burnie will have fallen off the castle wall into the moat,” he joked.

“One can dream,” said Jack and they started making their ways towards the blankets. “Wait is that…?”

Ryan was carrying an unconscious Jeremy and Ray was trailing behind him.

“What happened?” Jack exclaimed as he and Geoff ran to meet them.

“Dunno,” Ray panted. “He was teaching me about fire summoning and then,” he gestured at Jeremy’s limp form, clearly too tired to speak.

“It’s similar to how he was when he spoke Michael’s prophecy,” Ryan said. “Only he didn’t say anything.”

“Lay him down,” Geoff ordered and Ryan hurried to obey him but Jeremy suddenly thrashed in his arms. His eyes lit up red, so bright it was almost white and when he spoke it seemed to come from somewhere else.

“Beware the _onseker_ ,” Jeremy rasped. “They can either make the king ascend that much easier, or,” Jeremy coughed. “Or they will bring him down.”

\---

Lindsay stared down from the highest tower of Irideone. Though the view was beautiful, it wasn’t exactly captivating as she’d seen it every day since being brought to the freakish laboratory. If the day wasn’t filled with dangerous magic experiments and pain and instead had only isolation, it was one of the best ones she’d had. Absentmindedly, she rubbed the cuff attached to her forearm, used to curb her particular abilities.

Sighing, she turned away from the window but at the last second something flashed and caught her eyes. It had looked like..

But that wasn’t possible right? The only colours she saw were the green forest and grey mountains, and yet for a second it had almost looked like a flash of purple weaving in between the trees.

Not that that was possible. Just her mind playing tricks on her.

Hundreds of feet below Lindsay, Michael and Meg finally reached the lab of Irideone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Geofffffffreeeyyyyyy. But what is the permanent price? (After this is when shit gets _angsty_ )
> 
> Comment/kudos it makes my day and if you wanna ask about this pic come hang out on my tumblr @daughterofthieves


	8. The Prophet 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It gets a little angsty here my bad. Next one's worse though.

The night they reached the castle was clear and crisp. Stars were just starting to peer out of the night sky and the Hunters had set up camp in the forest that formed a ring around the castle. The journey had been long and arduous (especially after Jeremy’s prophecy) and they had crossed hundreds of miles without rest but finally they had made it. Most of the group seemed to have mixed feelings about the castle, especially Jack and Geoff. The former kings mouth was set in a stiff line, a grim expression for their usually cheerful leader. It was harder to tell what Jack was thinking; his face kept shifting between determination, regret, and worry.

Jeremy himself was unsure how to feel about the castle. It was after all where he had spent his first few weeks when he had been reborn, his twenty-sixth form dying as a result of Joel Heyman and his horrible experiments in the lab of Macatra. Jeremy shuddered. The lab wasn’t something he liked to think about and it didn’t matter anyways. Geoff had shut it down the second he’d heard about it and though he had been too late to save the twenty-sixth phoenix he had made sure Jeremy was in good hands. And even if Burnie Burns was a horrible man, Jeremy couldn’t imagine he’d condone those experiments and let a new lab spring up.

“So,” Geoff started. “I know you’re all nervous about this, but it’s a simple extraction. All we’re gonna do is go in as quietly as possible and get Gavin out. It’ll be a tough job, but if we stay silent we can pull it off.” He turned and looked directly at Jeremy. “Think you can pull it off?”

Jeremy gulped. He had known it was coming the second Geoff had started speaking, that he would be the one sent to fetch Gavin, but it was a big deal.

“Wait why’s Jeremy going?” Ray asked. “Shouldn’t it be like Ryan with some invisibility spell?”

“Lil’ J’s the sneakiest guy we’ve got,” Geoff declared proudly. “Doesn’t make a fucking sound.”

Ray looked mildly impressed but all Jeremy noticed was the churning of his stomach. He could hear himself agreeing to Geoff’s plan and feel his feet moving away when they broke to gather gear when but nothing really registered until he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Jeremy? You okay?” It was Ryan.

“What? Oh, uh-yeah just,” he sighed. “Just nervous. Got a lot riding on me.”

Ryan looked softly at him. “I’ll be in contact the whole time okay?”

“I fucking suck at telepathy,” Jeremy laughed. “But I’ll be fine. I’m just so nervous about seeing Gav again, it-it’s fucking with me I think.”

Ryan’s face tightened almost imperceptibly when Jeremy said Gavin’s name. Had he said something wrong?

“You’re happy to bring Gavin back right Rye?” Jeremy asked.

“Course!” Ryan assured hurriedly. “I’m just worried about how Joel’s influence will have affected him.”

“I’m trying not to think about it,” he confessed. The too tight feeling in his gut had returned. What if Gavin wasn’t okay? What if he didn’t want to go with Jeremy?

“No use thinking about that now,” he said aloud by mistake and Ryan shot him a quizzical look but Jeremy ignored it. The time had come for him to infiltrate the castle and Geoff came up behind him.

“Go get our boy back,” Geoff said.

\---

Getting in had been a surprisingly easy job. All he’d had to do was slip over the walls with a quick levitation spell and the guards had been basically asleep. Everything almost felt too easy but Jeremy wasn’t too keen on looking a gift horse in the mouth. They had a rough idea of where the prison was, unless Burns had moved it-oh fuck what if he had moved it?

 _Then we’ll figure it out_. Ryan’s voice sounded in his head. _Just focus on what’s going on right now okay? Get to the prison._

 _Right_ , Jeremy replied and he turned a corner in the labyrinth of hallways. The prison cells were, or at least had been, on the leftmost side of the castle and that had thus he had been his entry point. After about half an hour of sneaking around sets of stairs with an increasingly suspicious lack of guards (he’d gotten in exactly one fight with an idiot who’d tried to shoot him with a bow) he finally reached the prison.

 _It’s still there_ , he thought to Ryan. _Thank god_.

 _Told you. Go get him then_. Jeremy wondered at the sudden tinge of sadness that accompanied Ryan’s words but left it. If it was important then the other man would tell him. It was a downside to telepathy, that everything said became much more honest because it was difficult to hide emotion within your thoughts.

Jeremy glanced around the prison. There was a set of keys hanging on the wall and he made a beeline for them, not even bothering to stick to the shadows because it was clear the prison had no guards. Was Burnie Burns really that cocky? Or was something else going on? Whatever it was, he hoped to god they kept Gavin in the prison. Even if he was mind controlled he’d need somewhere to be kept right? There was no way Joel Heyman could keep control over him for so long.

“You’re a Hunter!” A shocked voice sounded from behind him and Jeremy froze in his tracks.

 _Ryan!_

He turned slowly to face his accuser. It was a blonde woman, a guard probably if her armour was anything to go by and she seemed shocked to see him there.

 _Jeremy what’s wrong?_ Jeremy sent Ryan a mental image of the scene in front of him. The other man was quick to reply. _Knock her out and hope she doesn’t scream._

Jeremy squared his shoulders for the task ahead. 

“Wait!” she said. “I’m on your side!”

“Nice try,” Jeremy replied. 

“Really! I swear to god, I can take you to Gavin Free!”

That gave Jeremy pause. “How do I know you’re telling the truth?” he finally asked. Ryan was yelling at him to kill her, but he ignored him. The guard relaxed slightly.

“My name is Barbara Dunkelman,” she said. “I know where Gavin is and I can take you there but you just have to trust me. The prison is a trap, they expected you to come down here.”

“Burns knew we were coming? How?”

Barbara shrugged helplessly. “Maybe you have a mole in the Hunters?”

 _Jeremy she’s probably lying to you and you_ can’t _get caught! Please just knock her out or something!_

_Ryan what if she’s telling the truth?_

“Look,” Barbara said, clearly frustrated. “This is what’s gonna happen if you go in there.” She grabbed a pebble from the ground and threw it at the keys Jeremy had been heading towards. The keys pulsed a brilliant white and released a barbed net that fell to the ground. “Those barbs? Poisoned.” Barbara said. “Listen I can take you to where the mages sleep okay? That’s where they keep Gavin.”

 _What does Geoff say?_ Jeremy asked Ryan. _You’ve been telling him everything right?_

 _He’s up to speed,_ Ryan confirmed. _And…he thinks you should trust her_. Ryan’s voice was disappointed but Jeremy knew he would never argue with Geoff about something like this. _Did she say her name is Barbara?_

_Yeah, why?_

_Maybe nothing. Probably nothing, just something we heard at Funhaus. Forget about it for right now._

_Whatever you say_. Jeremy turned to Barbara.

“Let’s go.”

\---

“That’s a lot of stairs,” Jeremy said, eyeing the tall staircase Barbara had taken him to. “And you’re sure about this?”

“Positive,” she replied, beginning to climb the stairs. He followed.

“How could you tell I’m a Hunter anyways?” he asked her. “For all you knew maybe I was just some thief.”

“Please,” she scoffed. “No one else wears fucking neon green and black.”

“Well your stupid red armour isn’t so great,” grumbled Jeremy. “At least ours is camouflage.”

“Yeah you’d be great a hiding in a rave,” Barbara laughed. Jeremy cocked his head. “A what?”

Barbara hesitated in her steps for a moment. “Nothing. A Ruberia thing I guess.” She stopped on the next step, peering around the spiral. “We’re here but..shit.”

“What?” Jeremy tried to peer around her but the staircase was too narrow.

“I didn’t think Joel had assigned anyone to guard it,” she murmured. “There’s a guard,” she turned to look at Jeremy and motioned him to be quiet. “A mage, one of Joel’s students.”

“He has students? Like people that actually want to be like him? What kind of fucked-”

“There’s nothing wrong with his students,” Barbara snapped. “Some of them are just confused. They think they’re doing the right thing by serving their king.”

“Okay.” Jeremy raised his hands in defense. _She was awfully quick to defend them_ , Ryan remarked and Jeremy was inclined to agree. “The guard is Aaron Marquis,” Barbara told him. “He’s a pretty good plant mage, but I can whack him with my sword and we’ll be good.”

“Don’t bother,” said Jeremy. “I’ve got this.”

One slightly scorched mage later and they were inside the mages sleeping area. Everyone seemed out for the count but Jeremy treaded lightly, knowing all too well how quickly that could change. Barbara behind him did a pretty good job as well and she directed him quietly through the maze of bunks to where Joel kept his _favourites_. Even the thought made Jeremy sick to his stomach and he couldn’t wait to get Gav and get the hell out of there. 

“There,” Barbara whispered. “All of Joel’s biggest prizes get their own rooms. He likes to pretend that he’s treating them well.” She shuddered. “It’s disgusting.”

Jeremy nodded dumbly. This was never a moment he’d let himself think about, lest it not come true and yet here he was. Behind that door was Gavin, the first person he’d ever loved. The one who had been ripped from him months ago, by a cruel twist of prophesised fate, supposedly gone forever and yet he was right behind that door. All Jeremy had to do was turn the knob.

He reached for it slowly and grabbed the gold doorknob, inlaid with designs that he could barely feel. The knob turned and Ryan laid a reassuring sentiment over his mind. It wasn’t words really, but more of a feeling, like everything would hopefully turn out okay. Jeremy grabbed onto the feeling, and with Barbara behind him he swung open the door.

Gavin was curled up asleep on the bed but the sound of the door caused him to stir ever so slightly. Jeremy was frozen at the sight of him. In sleep he seemed as though no time had passed. Gavin’s eyes had deeper bags under them, and he seemed skinnier, but if Jeremy just pretended it was like no time had passed at all. Like he was just returning home to the Hunter’s base after a mission, looking at Gavin asleep in his bed even if he technically shared a room with Michael. Jeremy took a half step forwards, hesitant, like if he moved too fast Gavin might disappear before him.

“Aren’t you gonna get him?” Barbara whispered from behind him.

 _Jeremy, the sun will rise soon_. Ryan’s voice was tinged with that peculiar sadness again, but there was something else hiding in there too.

As Jeremy took another step, Gavin awoke. He stretched and looked around, and he seemed almost scared. “Who-what? I, I don’t, where is the Death Man? I can’t _remember_ , where is he, please…” Gavin’s voice trailed off. 

“Gavin,” Jeremy breathed softly.

“No, no, no, I don’t, who _are_ you?”

“Joel’s hold on him is strong,” Barbara said softly. “I’ve seen this happen before, with charges he keeps for a long time, and puts a lot of energy into. They forget themselves, the people they knew…It’s awful.”

“Well we’re not gonna let that happen to Gavin,” Jeremy replied. His head was reeling. How could Gavin just not remember him? After all this not hoping, he had let himself believe in Gavin’s return only to have it spit back in his face. Suddenly the words of Gavin’s prophecy came back to him.

 _The darkness will never let him go_.

Barbara stepped around him and walked up to Gavin. He had squished himself into the tightest corner possible and stared up at her confused. When she bent to look him in the eye he started squirming and trying to get away from her. “There’s no way we can pick him up without him making some kind of noise,” she said. He hated how she sounded so casual when she talked about Gavin, like he was some kind of animal they were trying to transport.

“I, I don’t,” Jeremy was helpless. 

_Sleeping spell_ , Ryan murmured in his head. _Unless you have something better._

_I’ll do it. But I hate it._

_Me too._

Jeremy cast the spell after telling Barbara to step to the side. When Gavin’s head lolled to the side, soundly asleep, she gave him a deeply searching look.

“Look let’s just go okay?” He hated that look. “You coming?”

“Where else am I going to go?”

And with heavy hearts (for different reasons) they slipped away into the rising sun.

\---

Two men conferred in a darkened room.

“She’ll do fine,” one said. “It’s been ten years, there’s no way she isn’t loyal to us, and only us. She thinks we have her friend remember?”

“Memories are a finicky thing,” the other replied. He was pacing nervously around the room. “She may have returned my present, all wrapped up and forgotten, but she can just as easily remember what it’s like to be a hero. She could want that back.”

“Relax. That was many years ago. She stayed in Macatra so long she forgot all of that anyways.” The calmer man stood. “Have your mages left for the Hunter’s base?”

“They should be there tomorrow. I left Ellis in charge of leading the attack. The Hunters shouldn’t stand a chance against my students-they have no more creatures with magic left in their base.” 

“Joel, I want to make sure that no one gets out of there alright? I want Hunters either in my prison or dead, your mages understand that yes?”

The pacing man slowed. “Of course. What do you take me for, an idiot?”

“No.” He stretched. “Let’s go greet Matt. Hopefully he has some good news for us, and more importantly an idea of where Gus could be.”

“We know where Gus most likely is,” Joel rebuked. “They got him somehow, I can feel it.”

“We still need a body to confirm. Come, Matt won’t exactly wait for us.”

“Yes your _highness_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> RIP the last Jeremy chapter. No one gets more than two POV's though a couple characters only get one. Sorry bout the angst, this is when shit starts going down fucking hill for all the favs. Chapter 9 is a rough time though (we get our first death).
> 
> I'm estimating about 19 chapters for this fic, but we'll see if a couple need to be split up for length. Til next week and if you wanna know any more about the verse come hang out on my tumblr @daughterofthieves. (I might even give you a sneak peek scene!)


	9. The Fae

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this is late! My life is a mess right now and I have a _lot_ of french homework but hopefully the next chapter will be up Monday. On the bright side you get Trevor perspective which is like the sun shining down on us all.

_The day after the Hunters reach King Burns’ castle._

“Trevor wait up!” Kdin’s voice called out from behind him and Trevor whirled to face him, an easy grin on his face. 

“How can I help, temporary leader?” 

“You could start by not calling me that maybe?” Kdin groaned. “Bad enough that Matt keeps bowing to me every time he sees me; I really don’t need you encouraging anyone else to start something similar.”

Trevor laughed loudly. “Man, I’d almost forgotten about that. But seriously what do you need?” At his question Kdin grew more serious. Motioning for Trevor to follow him he ducked into a side hallway. Trevor quirked an eyebrow, but followed.

“I wanted to know if you’ve had any kind of…magical premonitions or anything?” Kdin grimaced. “About Geoff’s prophecy? I know that’s not really how you work exactly but if Jeremy’s doing weird shit then I figured maybe you could be too?”

Frowning, Trevor shook his head. “You’re right in that’s not how I work. I have no better idea than you as to how Geoff’s gonna end up.”

“But haven’t there been like fæ who could tell the future before?”

“Keep your voice down!” Trevor hissed, glancing around for anyone else. “Geoff and I have kept my whole fæ thing a secret for a reason, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t shout it to the whole base! Besides, yeah sometimes a sigil can be future-seeing but a sigil will only unlock when it’s needed and there’s not much I can do about that.”

Kdin sighed, leaning against the wall. “I’m just worried about Geoff. That prophecy talked about some potentially horrible price and I really would like to avoid that.” He side-eyed Trevor. “I’m sorry for bothering you though.”

“Not a problem,” Trevor replied. “I’m just sorry I can’t help you that much. Fæ are weird creatures I guess.”

“Least you’ll live forever,” Kdin grumbled. “You fucking dick.”

Trevor only laughed and clapped his friend on the back. A noise sounded faintly however, and his hyper-sensitive ears twitched. “Did you hear that?” It sounded again, louder and that was definitely a scream for help. Kdin could hear it too now, and they made a silent agreement to investigate it quickly. Kdin unsheathed a sword that hung at his hip and Trevor prepared his magic. Their bodies tensed in anticipation as they crept around the corner.

“Jon?” Kdin asked. He put his sword down, but Trevor stayed at the ready. Something was wrong. Their fellow Hunter was facing away from them, staring at something just out of his field of vision. “What are you doing?” Kdin walked up to the other man and Trevor let out a shout.

“Kdin wait!”

Jon turned and grinned. His hands were covered in blood and behind him, Trevor could now see the fallen figure of a Hunter. Moving forwards, Jon mumbled something and Kdin fell to the floor with a scream. Stepping over Kdin Jon cocked his head and gave a small grin. Trevor was frozen, it seemed impossible. Jon _couldn't do magic_.

_Apparently he can._

“What’s wrong Trevor? It’s just you me and Kdin. The Hunters together right?”

Trevor let out a growl.

“Kdin isn’t dead if that’s what you’re worried about. Just a little…incapacitated. Yeah. God I can’t wait til Joel gets here. It’ll be so great to see all you guys as mindless zombies.” Jon was almost talking to himself now, and Trevor took the opportunity to start backing up slowly. “I was stuck here with you fucking _idiots_ for so long. Months! I was undercover for months! Joel’s best student, reduced to supply runs and storage maintenance. What fucking injustice is that am I right?”

Jon was absolutely just monologing at the wall, and Trevor took his chance. With a last guilty look at Kdin’s unconscious form he took off down the hallways, casting a spell at the same time that would hopefully turn him invisible. Hearing Jon’s shout and footsteps behind him he closed his eyes and flattened himself against the wall, praying for his spell to work. Invisibility was such a tricky magic.

Trevor only opened his eyes once he heard Jon’s footsteps run past him and moved about two minutes after that. He doubled back to where he and Kdin had found Jon, still invisible, in the hopes that his friend would still be there but no such luck. Instead he retreated into a nearby dormitory to come up with some sort of plan.

“C’mon Trevor think here,” he mumbled. It would be fucking great if his sigil worked. A sigil, the magical ability that every fæ possessed, was unique to them and would supposedly activate when it was needed. 

“Well it’s fucking needed now,” he said under his breath.

_There’s gotta be more than just Jon in this base or he’d be out for the count. Even if he’s a mage he can’t take the entirety of the Hunters. But are they undercover?_ His stomach churned at the thought of his friends working for Burnie Burns and he resolved not to trust anyone for the moment. Jon had said Joel would be coming, but he obviously wasn’t at the base yet so that bought them some time.

_Time for what? I can’t take back the base on my own._

At the very least he had time to figure out a plan. _I’ll go to the main hall_ , Trevor decided. _That’s where they’d keep everyone_.

It wasn’t really a plan, but it was something and Trevor stuck to it religiously. Slipping through dark corners, not making even a whisper of a sound he made his way to the main halls. The corridors were stained with blood but after the first body he and Kdin had found (a woman he’d barely known) Trevor hadn’t seen any more. The halls had been well lit but most torches had been knocked over or put out during various struggles and it was getting harder for Trevor to see.

In the darkness he tripped over something laying on the ground and landed with an thump. Trevor groaned quietly, rolling over on his side and lifting his hand to check that the invisibility spell was still in effect. It was, thank god, and Trevor stood slowly. A quick check didn’t reveal any nearby threats and Trevor conjured a small flame to cup in his hand so he could investigate exactly what he had tripped over. 

And then he threw up.

He had tripped over a body. Lying dead on the floor, staring glassy eyed into nothing was Andy Blanchard. Trevor scrambled backwards, almost falling over again. Andy was-had been-so fucking _young_. And there was his dead body just lying there. His neck was twisted unnaturally to the side and Trevor could feel the magic residue left behind. Trevor’s jaw clenched. Whoever had killed one of his best friends was going to pay.

Finally, he made his way into the main gathering hall, and sure enough all the Hunters (the ones that hadn’t been murdered) were being kept prisoner there. Trevor couldn’t tell how they were being held-some were tied up, others magically incapacitated, and a few were unchained, probably staying put because of threats directed at their companions. Most were facing away from him but he saw Kdin and Matt huddled around a tied up Steffie and Caleb and his heart gave a sigh of relief. 

That relief soon faded however, when he looked at the mages that surrounded his friends. He counted at least a dozen, maybe a couple more and the main hall practically trembled with magical energy. Looking around, he spotted Jon who stood beside a tall bearded man that looked to be in charge-a fact Jon didn’t seem too happy about. Jon was talking with the bearded man, as well as a dark haired woman. If he strained his ears they were just strong enough to catch a snippet of conversation and Trevor was incredibly grateful for his enhanced senses.

“..told you, he doesn’t pose a threat,” Jon was saying. “He only got away from me because I had to to go back and secure the third in command.”

The bearded man seemed unconvinced. “Joel said no escapees Jon. I don’t want any fucking word of this getting out to the public-they’re unhappy enough with King Burns as it is.”

“There’s no way Collins could make it out of here,” Jon insisted and Trevor realized it was _him_ they were referring to. “I’m telling you Adam, it’s not like he’s got magic. One human against a dozen highly trained mages? He’ll be destroyed.”

“Whatever covers your ass right Jon?” the dark haired woman laughed. “I say we scour the base for him. We can flush him out in no time, and then make an example of him. Show all these rebels exactly what happens if they try to get away, and then we’ll make Joel happy.”

“Don’t be such a kissass Arryn,” the man who was apparently called Adam grumbled. “But I do agree with you. We should chase him down-hey! What’s the problem over there?”

Trevor redirected his gaze towards what Adam was yelling at and realized in horror that it was his friends. Kdin and Matt had gotten into some kind of fight with another one of their mages and he was none too pleased. They had tried to attack him, and take a hostage of their own, but he had caught them at the last second and was out for blood.  
“I’ll show everyone here what happens if you try that shit on me!” he yelled. Arms raised, he began to chant an incantation Trevor immediately recognized as a death spell and without thinking about it he leapt out of his hiding spot and yelled.

Time seemed to slow down as it happened. Trevor could feel himself moving forwards, as if through molasses and he barely had time to register that his invisibility spell had worn off before a burst of magical energy shot through him and he cast something else. Just as everything returned to normal speed the magic finished running through him and everyone in the room slumped over.

Terrified, Trevor rushed over to the nearest Hunter. Oh god what if he’d killed them all? Finding a pulse, he let out an audible sigh of relief.

“They’re asleep,” he mumbled. “Just asleep. But how….” His voice trailed off and Trevor glanced down at his wrist which had been emitting a soft light he hadn’t noticed until that exact moment. A crescent moon shape shone softly there, glow slowly fading. _My sigil?_

Trevor let out a whoop of joy. “My sigil!”

Looking around at all the prone bodies that surrounded them he refocused. He had no idea how long this sleep would last so he had to be sure to move quickly. First he’d need somewhere to keep all of the imprisoned mages. That was simple enough. The dungeon Jack had constructed would be plenty big, and more importantly was built with anti magic wards, courtesy of Ryan. So all Trevor had to do was get the mages down there.

Even with levitation Trevor could only take one mage down at a time. He started with the one that had threatened his friends, taking a grim sort of satisfaction in “accidentally” knocking his head against the walls. Slowly but surely, more and more joined the first and on his next trip upstairs Kdin was awake.

“Kdin! Thank god you’re okay!” Trevor ran forwards and pulled his friend into a deep hug.

“Trevor…what?” Kdin asked blearily. “The last thing I remember is that crazy mage attacking us and then I think I heard you yell?”

“My sigil, it’s putting people to sleep,” Trevor laughed. “It activated when that mage was casting his spell and I’ve been taking care of all these assholes. Maybe eight are downstairs in the prison right now?”

Kdin glanced around grimly. “Can you tell me where the other four are then?”

“What?” A look behind him revealed that the four mages he’d still needed to transport were indeed gone. Trevor looked towards the tunnel that lead out and caught a slight glimpse of the woman, Arryn, slipping down it. He moved to go after her but Kdin stopped him with a hand on his arm.

“Not worth it. We can't take all four of them without more losses.” He gestured to the Hunters around them, that were slowly waking up. “Can you take me to the prison?”

They gave Matt the rundown and left him in charge upstairs and Trevor walked Kdin down to the prison. In a stutter he told Kdin of Andy’s body and the other man’s jaw tightened in anger but he said nothing. Luckily, not many of their number had been lost. Once they reached the prison Kdin gave it a quick appraisal and sighed, pulling Trevor out of earshot of the imprisoned mages.

“On the bright side I know which mages escaped. On the down side…” Kdin sighed again. “They were pretty powerful.”

“How do you know their names?” Trevor asked. “I didn’t even know Joel had willing students, that weren’t just mind controlled drones.”

“They argued a lot,” Kdin replied. “Unfortunately, the leader, Adam is gone as well as the second in command Miles.” 

“And Arryn and Jon,” Trevor finished and Kdin nodded. “I wish I’d just been faster.”

“You fucking saved our lives dipshit,” Kdin said. “I’m gonna head back up. We have to get the Hunters moving, because there’s no way Joel Heyman and Burnie Burns are letting us just sit here.”

“I’ll join you in a minute,” answered Trevor. Leaning against the wall, he let Kdin’s footsteps fade for a minute and realized that he had been unconsciously tracing his crescent moon mark. Every sigil came with a mark and to finally have his was a blessing.

“Fæ scum,” hissed a voice from nearby and Trevor turned to look for the source. It was the first mage he had brought down there, the one that had almost killed Kdin and Matt in cold blood. Trevor’s face twisted into an ugly grimace when he looked at him and he forced his pulse to slow.

“You’ll never make it out alive,” the mage continued. “Once the others get back to Joel then you’ll be _destroyed_ here. And he’ll take a special pleasure in having you for experimentation. Joel’s never had a fæ before. Heed my words-I, Chris, have never told a lie.”

“Shut up,” Trevor replied and without even thinking about it he cast a quieting spell on the man. “Chris you can suck my dick because your false king and his dog won’t be in power for much longer.” Turning away he moved to climb the stairs. “And I would suggest you start composing an apology speech for Geoff Ramsey. I think you guys are gonna need it.”

\---

_The same day the Hunters reach Burnie’s castle (the day before the Hunters base is attacked)_

In Blaine’s opinion, maybe the worst job you could get stuck with as one of Joel’s students was Irideone guard duty. The laboratory was only ever interesting when Joel was actually there; the rest of the time it was just magical creatures screaming in pain and really dull scenery. Blaine was practically asleep at the entrance. Not to mention the fact that Joel only assigned a handful of students to guard at a time, and none of them were ever good company.

Yawning, Blaine leaned against the wall. He was practically falling asleep at the front entrance to the lab when a flash of purple crossed his vision. “Who’s there?” he yelled. “Who….” His question died on his lips when a beautiful woman suddenly stepped out in front of him. She had long purple hair and a soft smile and he was momentarily stunned.  
Just long enough for a sudden freezing sensation to overcome him. Suddenly he literally couldn’t move his legs and he watched helpless as a young man came out to join the woman.

“We make a good team huh?” she said, grinning up at her new companion. “I like that ice thing, is that why you won’t talk about the fire dragon? Will you melt?”

“Shut up,” her companion replied. “You ready to go get your friend?”

“Born ready,” she said and all Blaine could do was watch as they strolled easily past him, into the laboratory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry Andy. This death is the first of a few, though I'm still ironing out exact details of how the end goes. Leave a comment I like dance when I get them.

**Author's Note:**

> Come chat on my tumblr @daughterofthieves


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